The Arrow Inside You
by theoceaninside
Summary: Beth Greene and Daryl Dixon have never gotten along, so when a mutual friend suggests he teaches her the art of survival neither are all too thrilled. However, as life at the prison grows more treacherous, Beth and Daryl begin to realise that the bond they have is something that neither of them have ever experienced before and could ultimately lead to disastrous consequences.
1. An Unworthy Individual

**AN- Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed my first story, Abolesco. It was only ever going to be a short story but **_**hopefully **_**this story should get over 50k words. I hope to write a monster of a story, anyway and I hope everyone who reads this enjoys it! As always, reviews only help me write faster! Each chapter will be in either Daryl or Beth's point of view and they will alternate (with a few exceptions) every chapter. Enjoy!**

Hot summer days like this made me miss the farm like crazy. Gone are the times where I could step into the field barefoot and feel the grass tickling the bottom of my feet and enjoy tangy lemonade with Jimmy. It's strange how we took those things for granted … How superficial we all were back then.

The prison made me feel like my blood was boiling and burning me from the inside so I sat outside in the shade with baby Judith for a while. It seems as though the dead rising and eating the living had given me a morbid sense of humour. It's not long before Carol joined me outside, wearing her bandana to keep her head from burning. I like Carol, other than Maggie she's the prettiest woman I've ever seen. Her hair's gray and cut short, but her eyes are a piercing blue and she has a smile that reaches all the way to her eyes and makes you feel warm inside.

When Judith was about two weeks old Carol and I were inseparable because we were always looking after her. I've always wanted a baby and I think Carol misses her little girl, Sophia an awful lot, so I guess that's how we bonded.

"How's the weather treating you, honey?" Carol sits next to me and holds out her arms for Judith and it seems as though Judith has been missing Carol a lot lately. She's been keeping guard with Daryl most of the time, so I'm usually the one with the baby and I suppose Judith's getting real bored of me.

"Well, I guess I'll get a suntan, right?" I chuckled slightly as I shielded my eyes from the glaring sun with one hand and held Judith in the crook of my arm with the other.

"Hold on a second." Carol smiled gently, took off a bandana from her waist and tied up my hair with it. It was one of my favorites; a pink background with white stars dotted about. She reminds me of my mother…

"How's Lil Ass Kicker doin'" A drawl from my right brought me out of my reverie and Daryl Dixon walked into view. His boots were dirty and covered in the guts of some walker as well as being marked with scuffs and dust, his trousers had traces of food, sweat and a smear of blood that was probably obtained from wiping his knife on them. On his torso was a long sleeved plaid shirt that'd been raggedly cut at the arms in order to resemble a vest and from his mouth hung a lopsided cigarette which he probably rolled himself.

"No smokin' near the baby." I held Judith protectively to me in an attempt to shield her from the toxic fumes he was puffing our way.

I could almost hear Carol _tsk_ at my response to Daryl. I don't like him, it's a simple fact. I don't like him, I didn't like his brother Merle and I certainly don't like the way everyone worships him like he's a hero. Yes, he does a lot for the group in the sense he goes out hunting and scavenging for us, but we've got a lot of other people who can do that now, Tyreese, Rick, Glenn even Carl.

"She's just teasing, Daryl." Carol shot me a glance and I held Judith slightly closer. I stroked the small tufts of hair on her head as Carol got up and wandered to the far side of the wall with Daryl. Judith really looks like Lori, maybe that's why Rick can never look after her for a long period of time …

There's no point in dwelling upon why Rick spends the least amount of time with Judith in the world, he's a good leader and I enjoy looking after Judith and on occasion, keeping an eye out for Carl. My attention was somewhat stolen by Carol and Daryl's discussion … I can't hear what's being said but it's full of Carol tilting her head and Daryl rolling his eyes so I presumed Carol was persuading Daryl into doing something for her.

Judith's started crying due to the sun so I cautiously stood and took her inside the dull cell block. I remember the time Rick said he would colour the walls of Judith's room so she wouldn't wake up looking at walls as bleak as our future, and for some reason those words stuck with me. What _are _our chances of survival in a world like this? Most of the people here have it pretty good, they know what to do if they were swarmed but what about the young, the old, the injured, the people like me? I don't fit into any of the stereotypical useless survivors categories except maybe 'dumb blonde'.

I spent the rest of the day caring for Judith, playing with her and making sure she's well fed when Zach sat on the floor next to me.

"Hey Bethy." He leant forward and kissed my cheek as I refrained from cringing. Daddy calls me 'Bethy' and as much as I like Zach … It's creepy. He came here a few weeks ago with a group of college friends and they held their own in a world like this so I guess it's only fair they get their time of solace in the prison.

"Hey …" I smile softly and glance down at Judith. "Any' planned today?" In all honesty I never really cared. It would be nice if he stayed to keep me company, or nice for him if he went with his friends.

"That redneck, Daryl, is it? He's going on a run today, he's asking for volunteers and I think I'm gonna go with him." I had to admit, he has a _gorgeous _smile.

"Oh? I guess that'll be fun for you." I tried my best to be supportive, but apparently supportive wasn't exactly what Zach wanted from me.

"You could at least pretend to care, Beth." I didn't even look at him as he stood up. He stroked Judith's head gently and she gurgled in delight.

"I do care, I'm just sayin' that you'll have fun." I shrugged and pretended to preoccupy myself with some of Judith's toys.

"You're meant to be worried about me." Zach crouched in front of me and tucked my hair behind my ear as he talked. "You're supposed to beg me to stay." He chuckled softly and waits for my answer.

"It'll be nice to get you out of my hair for an hour or so." I smirked up at him and leaned in to kiss his lips once, and thankfully he gladly responded.

"I've gotta get my bag ready, I'll see you at dinner?"

"See you at dinner."

I was only given seconds to focus on Judith before my attention was taken up by a less worthy individual.

"Aw, young love. 'Aint it sweet?" As I looked up I saw Daryl leaning against the wall of my cell. He'd been the one who demanded taking the cell doors off due to not wanting to 'sleep in a cage'. Must have reminded him from all those times he was in jail.

"Hm." I murmured in response, I wasn't going to make this easy for him. Maybe if he had made more of an effort with me I might have been more welcoming. He spent all this time getting close to everyone apart from me; even the people from Woodbury had a better understanding of him.

I heard him sigh and the sound of his boots shuffle as he sat on my bed, I had to fight the urge to tell him to get off of it.

"Somethin' about you says you don't like me." I glanced over at him, he was sat on my bed with his elbows resting on his knees and his face in his hands, as though bored of the conversation before it had even begun.

"I like everyone, sir." Just because I didn't like him didn't mean I had to lose my manners and besides he was the reason I slept safely at night.

"You got a funny way of showin' it." He chuckled and sat up, intrigued. I noticed that he was dirtier than the rest of us despite the showers Glenn had managed to fix up. The water was sharp and cold, but a shower was a shower and 8 months with only a limited supply of water made me appreciate them even more. His face was stained with dirt and sweat which he'd probably gathered from spending the previous day on a run, so surely there was no need for him to make a run today.

"Maybe you just didn't make an effort." I shrugged and sat with Judith on my lap, I nuzzled her gently and kissed her head but to my horror Judith was reaching for him. _Traitor. _

"I 'aint ever seen you comin' to talk to me." He raised an eyebrow and flashed a smile at Judith, she squealed in delight and plucked her from my arms.

"You're the adult. You're the one who's meant to be makin' an effort." I shrugged and got up, but then I realised how out of place it was that Daryl had come to talk to me. "What do you want, anyway."

"Me? Oh, the pleasure of your company, of course." He beamed at me before the grin slid from his face. "I spoke to Carol."

I forced a breath from my lungs and turned to face him, hands on my hips. "So?"

He stood up too, Judith still in his arms, he towered over me and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Daryl was an intimidating person and his broad shoulders and thick, muscled arms only reinforced the fact that if he wanted he could snap me like a twig.

"She suggested I train you." He cocked his head and I saw the hint of a smirk creep upon his lips.

"Thanks, but no thanks." I smiled slightly, trying to dismiss the idea as kindly as possible but apparently Daryl Dixon had other ideas.

"Ah, ah, ah. Hold on a minute there, Greene." He put his free arm out across the entrance of my cell to stop me from leaving. I hadn't even tried to escape, but apparently as well as being lethal with a bow he was expertly trained in telepathy.

"Yes, sir?" I slowly turned to face him, rolling my eyes and puffing a sigh as I did so.

"I care about Carol an' she made a fair point." He bobbed a restless Judith and she was instantly silenced. _Take note, Beth. _"We're the only two people in this prison who don't talk." He glanced from Judith to me and raised an eyebrow.

"We're always too busy." I shrugged slightly and he just snorted with laughter.

"Quit makin' excuses. You're trainin' with me. You're probably the only one apart from the kids who can't look after herself."

"Excuse me?" One hand slid from my hip as I pointed it at him. "I can look after myself just fine! If I'm gettin' trained it's gonna be Maggie or Carl teachin' me!" And with that I stormed from the sweltering cell block, leaving Judith in the protection of her favourite babysitter.

Fuming, I made my way to the watch tower where I knew Maggie had been posted. As I made my way up the stairs Glenn made his way down them, nearly knocking into me as I walked. He smiled apologetically to which I responded with a glare. I like Glenn, but that day was not going well for me. HE grimaced and hurried his way down.

"Maggie, will you train me?" I sat down in the small box as she sat on the rusted railing, binoculars in hand.

"Hello Maggie, nice to see you Maggie," She grinned, before realising what I said. "What do you need training for?"

"Carol asked Daryl to train me, he says I can't look after myself." I watched as she slowly lowered the binoculars and sighed.

"Well, there's no one to blame for that. You just-" She began, but it was too late. She had agreed with him. My own flesh and blood had decided I was useless too.

"I _know_ how to defend myself, Maggie! Why is everyone doubtin' me all the time?!" My arms flew from my sides as I argued my case, apparently Maggie wasn't having any of it today.

"Calm down, Beth. Listen, calm down. You've never killed a walker before …" I opened my mouth to retort, but she held up her finger to silence me. "I'm not sayin' you can't look after yourself, but let's face it, you need to learn how to use a gun."

Defeated, I looked at her. She was looking intently at me, waiting for my response. I didn't even know what to say … If Maggie thought I couldn't look after myself, then who would?

"Well, why can't you train me?" I sighed and folded my arms, my voice twisted with dejection.

"Because Daryl's the best we got." She placed her finger under my chin so I looked at her. Her smile made me feel _slightly _better, but I still wasn't satisfied.

"I want to raise it at the next group meetin'." I tightened my folded arms in defiance. At least I get to postpone the impending doom of training for at least a week.

"Lucky for you, the next meetin's tonight." She smirked at my look of horror.

My blood ran cold as I gulped, trying to sputter a response yet nothing came. I licked my lips as my eyes darted around the cosy square raised above the courtyard that served as a watch tower and I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I tried to talk my way out of this.

"I suggest you make a case." Was all Maggie said before raising the binoculars to her eyes again.

Apart from Rick and my Dad I was the only person in the library, waiting for the meeting. I watched as familiar faces poured in, settling themselves around the oak table. It was a wonder how the table had managed to be spared during an outbreak, yet living people hadn't. The meeting was mainly about supply runs and fixing the problem of the walkers forcing their way through the fence, but it was also the first meeting I had attended. Then finally, Rick asked if anyone had anything to say.

"Um, I do." I took a deep breath and stood up, heart thumping so loud I was certain everyone could hear. "I've been told that, uh, Daryl would like to train me and … I don't see any reason for it." My face was on fire and if I could have seen it I'm sure it was the colour of a tomato.

The room was silent and Rick looked to my Father, who just sighed and nodded.

"Listen, Beth … It's nothing against you, but … It's come to our attention that you don't know how to handle a weapon properly …" He licked his lips and dug his hands into his pockets as he averted my glare.

"I know how to use those long guns." I clenched my fists to emphasise my opposition to the idea. "I just haven't ever been given the chance."

"Beth, listen to Rick." I turned my head as my Father spoke, the whole room was captivated by him. "A little training can't hurt … Can it? Think about the responsibility you'd have." I knew he was patronising me, but my mind raced back through time to when Rick had amputated my Father's lower leg … Perhaps if I had been there I could have helped him, prevented it from happening.

There was no way I was letting the world know I didn't want Daryl to train me so I stayed silent, just nodding as Rick decided I was going to be subjected to hours of torment at the hands of Daryl Dixon.

"Where is Daryl, now that we're speaking of him?" Glenn piped up, still hiding from my gaze.

"He's on a run for things for Judith." Carol smiled in response, how she could like that man I'd never know. Well, apart from the obvious of looking for her daughter when she went missing, but other than that? There wasn't anything to them really.

"With who?" One of the women from Woodbury stood, I couldn't for the life of me remember her name, but she was a Mother and her son was probably out with Daryl.

The response was cut short by Carl sprinting into the room, panting heavily.

"They're back, it's not good."

I helped my Father to his feet, well, foot and walked outside with him. Only two had returned. Daryl and another boy, someone from Woodbury. There was no sign of Zach.

"Some pricks jumped us." Spluttered Daryl. He lay on the floor, covered in blood and wheezing yet his crossbow remained in his hand. _Typical._

The other boy lay there unmoving apart from the slight rise and fall of his chest. My Father made his way to the boy, shouting instructions to people to get him the things he needed.

"This was planned." Daryl sat up slowly, wincing as he did so. "It was too organised to be a random jump." He spat on the ground next to me and I grimaced.

"Looks like you're gonna need that training after all." Maggie whispered, hand on my shoulder as we stared out at the darkness full of terrors that stretched beyond our sacred safe haven.


	2. Take Her Down

The guy who jumped me was going to be one sorry son of a bitch when I was through with him. I flopped back against the cold, hard floor as the elder residents of our home gawked at me. The world spun as the stars shimmered on the curtain of black that surrounded my view. It then came to my attention that my neighbours were still stood, admiring the view of a boy struggling to breathe and myself fighting not to spew from exhaustion. My body screamed in protest as I hoisted myself into the seated position in order to yell at them and tell them where to shove their sympathy.

"'Aint you got somewhere else to be?" A glare was all that was needed to disperse the crowd. Nodding in satisfaction I allowed myself to resume looking up at the night sky, before remembering the kid I was so determined to get back home. Herschel was tending to the boy, his mother crouched over his side holding his hand so tight I could see his fingertips go bright red from the pressure.

I dragged myself to my knees and hauled myself as close to his side as I could whilst giving the boy enough space. Herschel was consumed by concentration as his hands pumped in unison on the boy's chest, it only then occurred to me he was performing CPR. I'd done my best, he was the only one I could salvage from the onslaught of gunfire.

The bus had overturned as one of the college kids drove, sending those seated on the right straight into those on the left. I was sitting on the left and had managed to catch the boy that now lay on the ground next to me before he could damage either of us. I remember that he'd cried as I shoved his head down towards the cold seat to prevent him from taking a bullet to the head, hopefully he'd thank me for it when he woke up, if he woke up.

Our attackers had made their way onto the bus to ensure everyone was dead and I had crammed my crossbow against the floor and the twisted metal of a broken seat, thrown the boy on top and then covered him with my body. No way was a kid dying for me and no way was my crossbow being snatched from under my nose. His breath had been short and hurried as though struggling to get the air to his lungs, but he'd pulled through. After they'd announced there was nothing to take and I was certain there was no one left at the site I checked the bodies of everyone in the bus. They were pocked with bullet holes and some of their faces had been blown off, others had bones jutting from skin at awkward angles from the crash. I came across little Beth Greene's boyfriend laying against the glass of splintered window with his eyes still staring up at the ceiling above him, a trickle of blood escaping his open mouth. I had to get out before they came back as walkers, though I'm sure most of them had taken at least three bullets to the head at a minimum.

With the only survivor slung over my shoulder and crossbow in hand I trekked back towards the prison. We hadn't got that far and there was no telling if the guys who shot our bus up would next attempt to take the prison, though it was well known to the area that the prison was overrun by walkers.

With my mind acting on raw instinct and body moving on coarse adrenaline I'd managed to limply push the gate to alert the person on watch that I'd returned and then made my way to the front of the prison when my legs gave way and the boy had come crashing down on top of me.

A gentle touch pulled me away from the boy and his sobbing mother as Herschel tried to revive him. What had gone wrong? I made sure he wasn't shot, so how could he …? As I was pulled away his face became clearer. What was his name? The anger boiled inside me as I tried to remember, I went through hell saving this kid and now I couldn't remember a simple thing like his name? The pressures of the evening had become too much for my fried brain to contemplate and so submitted to the soft hand pulling me from the attempted resuscitation.

"It's real sad." I heard a voice and frowned. The words were dripping in a sticky sweet tone that could only belong to Beth. I knew my shoulders were sliced open from the shattered glass that had exploded when the bus overturned, but it didn't stop the pain when she pulled at my skin to examine the damage.

"Do ya'mind?!" I yanked my arm away from her and tried getting away, but she gently rested her hand on my shoulder to stop me from scampering away.

"If I have to endure two hours a day of trainin' with you, you have to deal with havin' your wounds bein' tended to." Her voice was jagged as she held me in place, the kid acted like she was smarter than she was. No one likes a smartass.

"Shuddup, Greene." I spat at the ground beside her but let her continue with what she had to do, so long as she didn't go too close to my back which was a mess of ridged flesh and scarred welts. "Why you helpin' me anyway?" I growled at her, ignoring the fact that she was actually doing me a favour, having her tend to my wounds was far less painful than having Herschel or Maggie. They were ruthless.

"Because everyone else is busy and I'd rather not have my family take your place in puttin' their lives at risk." Her hands were still gentle as she pulled the glass, which sent a stinging pain through my nervous system and left the skin surrounding the wound burning hot.

Merle would never let himself be manhandled by a teenage damsel who couldn't tell the difference between a knife and a sword. Merle would never let himself get into that predicament in the first place. The thought of Merle was the only thing that drowned out the endless stinging from my shoulders.

When she had finished pulling out as much as she could she cleaned the wounds and bandaged them, so I decided this was a good time to at least try and piece together some sort of friendship. We were going to need it if we were going to be in the presence of each other with armed weapons.

"Any weapons you know how to use?" I said in a strained voice as she patted my lacerated flesh into a bandage

"I was good at archery." She mumbled softly, even her voice was soaked in determination to get these wounds healed.

Archery? Not much I could help with that, apart from find her a bow. I thought I knew where to begin looking though.

"Listen, I got an idea to make sure you train with whatever you're comfortable with, understand?" I could almost hear her interest pique.

"How?" She stopped tugging at the mangled flesh in my shoulder to let me answer.

"Back at Woodbury, if we go tonight we could-"

"You think they'll let their star scavenger out after almost havin' his shoulder shredded?" She snorted as she dismissed the idea. I could feel my blood boil in impatience, someone would have to hold me back if she was this infuriating and I had my crossbow in my hand, locked and ready to aim.

"That's not what I'm sayin'. If we get through the fence we 'aint got no worries in gettin' to Woodbury." My voice dropped to a whisper as I tried to hint to her that we were sneaking out and not simply asking to go.

"What do you mean if we just- oh, _oh…"_ Her breath tickled my ear and I felt her nod slowly. "Okay."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her innocence. It was funny for someone of her age to be so naive in a world like this, especially someone who had lost so much. It was stupid, stupid got you killed.

"Say you're goin' to get some things. I'll follow you there, alright?" I studied her face and a bead of sweat formed at the top of her forehead, she was nervous about lying to her Daddy. _How sweet. _

Beth had wandered off to the gate, the walkers began to rustle against it with a worrying amount of noise though it seemed they hadn't quite caught the attention of my fellow 'inmates'. After a few minutes I followed her down, she was waiting by the hastily patched up hole in the fence.

"You ready, Greene?" I smirked softly, though my humour didn't seem to raise her spirits in any shape or form.

"I'm only here for the bow, Dixon."

I was astounded by the way she had spoken to me. Here she was, sweet doe eyed Beth Greene sass mouthing me, someone who used to scare the shit out of her. I much preferred the scared teen she had been, looking for our group to protect her to this imposter who felt like she could take on the world with only her grit and determination. I had been like that once, when the world turned upside down and the dead started walking. Merle and I were going to rob that camp blind before taking off, but when he'd been left on that roof … Well, things had changed and Beth needed to see that she wasn't gonna get anywhere on her own.

Twenty minutes later we were headed towards Woodbury. The place had only bad memories for me, yet Beth was numb to the anger the residence caused. It would be hard not to notice the girl had become distance over the year that we had known her. She had been a docile creature, scared of the world as it is today, but she had grown along with this hell we were living in and it had turned her mindset from it's fragile porcelain state to the toughened and unscathing steel we see today. Beth walked in front of me, her body clearly tensed. she was wearing her hair in a ponytail to keep it out of her way if she ever came to fighting walkers which was a smart strategy, perhaps I hadn't given her enough credit. She wore a thin yellow vest that was concealed underneath a shorter grey vest to keep her torso warm but gave her the leverage in the arms if she needed it. Her trousers were grimey and stained with substances I didn't want to know and they were rolled to her knees. She wore a pair of boots I remember taking from a wardrobe whilst on a run a month or so ago. Glad to see someone was making use of them.

"How much farther?" Beth stopped walking and turned to face me. Her pale white skin was all that was visible in the glimmer of moonlight that spilled from the fragments of broken clouds above us.

"Not too long, another mile or so." I spat at the ground and continued walking, overtaking her.

"Do you have to do that?" I could hear the disgust in her voice as she quickened her step to walk with me.

"Do what?" I turned my head slightly to her face her, she just rolled her eyes and we continued on in silence.

Woodbury was a very different place now to the one I had encountered two months previously. The security of the town had dwindled to mere remnants of the superior safe haven it had been. Beside me I heard Beth whistle in admiration.

"Good place they had here …" She nodded, drinking in the buildings that were visible to her before ducking under one of the boards that still held up a disfigured gate.

I followed her in and looked around, the dark made it harder to spot walkers, but as far as we knew it only made us less visible to them too, we were at a disadvantage, not knowing all that much about them. Beth kept to the side of a building, crouching low to hide her visibility as I made my way towards the wreckage of a building. I knew there was a bow here somewhere. It took the better part of an hour before I finally managed to pull the bow from the wreckage of an old library they must have cornered off` when they were building the town. Merle had mentioned the library to me before, so I quickly picked up the first book I could find which would now serve as the only piece of him I had left.

"You found it?" Her whisper was light as she jogged over to me, eyes transfixed on the bow in my hands.

"You know how to use this?" My voice betrayed the uncertainty I felt giving her the bow, but hey she said she knew how to use it, I wasn't gonna just keep it from her, especially with that look in her eyes.

She nodded once and took it from me and I caught the small smile that sneaked its way to her lips.

"Show me?" I nodded to the bow and she went slightly red, reminding me of the girl she was when I'd met her.

Carol cared an awful lot about Beth and I wasn't going to let this world beat her, not if it meant Carol being dragged down too. Beth was a kid, I didn't know how to talk to kids unless they were Carl. Beth was one for tender words and soft whispers and I couldn't do that, which was where we clashed.

She raised the bow after taking an arrow from my crossbow, she explained it wouldn't work as well because crossbow arrows were heavier, but she'd try her best. Her slender arm pulled the string taut and her body relaxed as she shot the arrow. It soared through the hole in a tyre and snapped upon impact with the ground.

"Remind me not to piss you off." I shook my head and made my way back to the prison with her.

We walked in silence before I realised I should tell her about Zach. They'd been together for only a week or so, but she'd lost a lot of people and this was just another to add to the list. Carol wouldn't want to tell her, and there wasn't any possible way Herschel was going to get to tell her tonight, which meant she'd find out from one of the snot faced brats we'd picked up from Woodbury.

"I'm sorry about Zach … I wish I coulda helped him sooner, shoulda helped him sooner."

"It's okay." She shrugged. "It happens." Then she sauntered on as though we'd been discussing the weather.

We made our way back into the prison without anyone noticing. They were all too preoccupied with the kid I'd brought home, as soon as I walked into our cell block I was told he had an asthma attack and there was nothing I could have done to save him which I dare-say was an attempt to make me feel better. Troubled by the way Beth had reacted earlier on I searched the block to find Carol who was sat in her cell with Judith.

"Hey there, Lil Ass Kicker." I smiled softly and sat beside Carol. "Listen … We gotta talk." I saw the gleam in her eye I had seen from only a few other women in my lifetime. _Oh no … _Before she could say anything I quickly progressed. "I'm doin' this because I'm lookin' out for your best interest, you hear me? You should talk to Beth. You'd be worried about her." I recited Beth's reception of Zach's death. "We don't need a psychopath runnin' around causin' chaos, sort her out or I will." I flashed a quick smile to Lil Ass Kicker before I gathered my things and left before she could even formulate an answer

I stared up at the ceiling and watched the light of the moon slip into the my sleeping quarters. The perch allowed less room than the cells, but sleeping in a cage wasn't something I was eager to do too soon, so the perch was mine. It had to be the early hours of the morning when I heard a feathery voice drift from the cells below me. _Beth. _It seemed even when she was meant to be sleeping she lived to cause me inconvenience.

After today I decided I was going to be careful around Miss Butter-Wouldn't-Melt-Even-If-You-Tried. She was on edge, cut off from human emotions and distant from any sense of comfortable society, it was only a matter of time before she became Shane 2.0. I thought about telling Rick about what I'd seen today, but he'd either dismiss it or tell me to talk to Herschel and there was no way I was going to shatter the old man's heart.

I was even wary about letting her near the baby, but if I let suspicion overcome me I'd be Glenn or worse yet, like that prick Morgan. After what felt like an eternity of singing I decided enough was enough. I went down the stairs, two at a time before gently pulling aside the flimsy fabric that served as curtain to Beth's room.

"Hey, you wanna keep it down in there?" My voice was tinged with accusation, something she wasn't very familiar with and it was obvious to see by the way her back erected and her eyes narrowed.

"Sorry, sir. I'll be quiet." She smiled softly at me, eyes locked onto mine as she flicked her head slightly, indicating for me to leave.

"Listen, Greene. I don't know what's wrong wit'you and quite frankly I couldn't care less, but as soon as you start threatenin' this prison I won't hesitate to take you down. You clear?" My fists clenched by my sides as she considered my response, my words processing in her mind.

"Crystal." Beth nodded, shooting me a glare of utter contempt as Judith was slowly lulled to sleep.


	3. May Heaven Have Mercy Upon Him

The next morning was spent playing with Judith in the shade of the Prison courtyard with Carol, who was all smiles and laughter when we spoke but had a concerned look in her eye as she watched Judith, but I had a sensation in the pit of my stomach that it had something to do with me.

"What's wrong, Carol?" My eyebrows knitted together in concern as she inhaled, it seemed as though her ribs would give way due to the amount of air she sucked in. She looked frail and fragile, yet she was one of the strongest forces we had at this prison.

"Daryl spoke to me last night." She turned her head and gave me a sympathetic smile as she lifted Judith into her lap. _What a surprise, it seems as though Daryl gossips more than the women here._

"He spoke to me too." I rolled my eyes at the the mere thought of him. It only really crossed my mind then that he was a bit of a bitch, really. He reminded me of a popular girl who used to go to my school. Her name was Jessica and she was consistently nice to your face, yet as soon as your back was turned her knife was plunged in deep. I actually laughed aloud at the thought of dark and brooding Daryl Dixon who could live in the wild for days on his own for days on end compared so similarly to a girl who was probably one of the first to die in from this infection.

I noticed Carol stare at me, eyes filled with worry.

"I was just thinking about someone I used to know who Daryl reminds me of." I chuckled, which seemed to reassure her, if only slightly which was a relief in any case.

"He said he told you about Zach." She slowly set Judith a pink blanket on the floor and quickly made a face at her to reassure the baby she still maintained her attention.

I stayed silent for a few seconds as the light summer breeze gently blew the loose strands of hair into my face, hand shaking I tucked the lock of greasy hair behind my ear and looked at Carol.

"He said I didn't care, didn't he?" I laughed humorlessly and shook my head slightly. "Well I do." I stared straight ahead at the walkers who surrounded the gates, threatening to overrun the only home we had. "I've learned that distancing myself from people is the only way to keep me safe." Her hand on my scarred wrist made me jump slightly, yet I looked at her despite the watery sensation in my eyes.

"Oh, honey …" She sighed and pulled me to her and for fifteen minutes I sobbed in her arms. Even Judith was distressed by my screams and sobs, though they were muffled by Carol. "You don't want to go back there, do you? Back to the way you were on the farm?" Her fingers stroked through my hair, a sensation I had ached for ever since Mom died.

When she was certain I had recovered she wiped the silver tear tracks from my face and kissed the tip of my nose gently.

"You're going to be fine, Beth. I'll talk to Daryl later on, okay?" She released me and then held Judith close to her, but I shook my head boldly.

"He doesn't like me, it's the way I like it." I stood up and left to go for my two hour training session after quickly visiting my cell to pick up my newly acquired weapon.

I could see why Daryl now kept his crossbow so close to him, without my bow I felt as though a limb had been removed despite only having it for less than a day. I'd been archery champion for three years running back at school, a collection of memories so distant the edges were beginning to fade like an old photograph. Daryl was stood at the edge of the chain linked fence, close to the walkers, yet not close enough to be grabbed and fed to their snarling jaws. He spotted me and nodded once, making sure I knew where he was. I trudged over to him and it was only then that I saw the cigarette in his mouth, I could see the tension in his muscled frame seep from his mouth in the form of a lethal haze as he exhaled the smoke.

"Smokin's bad for you." I bent down to examine the arrows that lay on the ground. The tips had different colours and it seemed as though he'd picked them up on a run for his crossbow, but they hadn't quite worked. Daryl knew his crossbow better than the people he lived with so he must have known that they'd never fit weapon he treated like a newborn baby.

"So's gettin' bit." He shrugged and crouched down, putting the arrows I'd moved to examine back in order. Who'd have thought the bold Daryl Dixon had a fetish for keeping things neat?

"When did you get these?" I frowned slightly, some of the feathered tips seemed as though they had never been fired.

"This mornin'." He was giving _me_ the cold shoulder now? The memories of his warning blazed through my mind and I nodded once.

"You know how to use these?" I shook the metal bow that was held so tight in my hand my knuckles turned white gently and the sound of a harsh _swish _cut through the air.

"Nope. Why d'ya think I picked up all these goddamn arrows?" His upper lip twitched in annoyance as he spoke and ash fell from the cigarette that balanced between his lips. He used his forefinger and middle finger to pull the cigarette from his mouth and blew out a soft plume of smoke which he had the decency to puff in the opposite direction to my face, yet the smell still made my throat itch and my eyes water.

"You found all of these?" I blinked the stinging sensation from my eyes and inspected the arrows. There was over 30 and after close inspection I selected 20 that would fit the make of bow. I wasn't an expert on the bow I had, I just knew the tightness of the string was perfect. I didn't have everything I needed to make shooting comfortable, but in the conditions we lived in, I was happy for the bow in itself.

"You think I'm dangerous." I turned my head to look at him. He was sat next to me, leaning back on his elbows to keep him propped up, his legs were crossed as he squinted at the sunlight. He leant to the right elbow as he used his left hand to take another drag of his cigarette.

"I 'aint ever said that." He tipped his head back and savoured the nicotine that now flowed through his system.

"You told me as much last night." I frowned and sat up, my legs crossed as I tilted my head slightly in confusion.

He took a minute to think out his answer before smirking over at me. "You got cold, Greene." His eyes studied mine, as if waiting for a retort. When he was confident I had nothing to say, he continued. "You're convinced you're the only one who lost somethin'." He shook his head slightly and ran a hand over his mouth with the hand that held his cigarette. "I used to be like that too. When I found out Merle was up on that roof, I swore I coulda killed someone. Prolly woulda been Rick, too. Then when Carol's lil girl went missin' I went off like you did."

"I haven't 'gone off' anywhere." I frowned slightly, I didn't care to hear his life story but I was intrigued to find out more. Needless to say he had caught my attention.

"Shuddup up a minute, would'ya?" Daryl rolled his eyes and ground the stub of his cigarette into the grass and focussed his attention on me. "When Rick an' Glenn went lookin' for your Daddy Lori asked me to go out searchin' for them an' I refused. You know why? 'Coz I was tired of lookin' for people. Carin' about people only gets you hurt but that don't mean you gotta shut yourself off. Shuttin' yourself off makes you a coward"

The similarity of our situations hit me with a resounding force. Before, it seemed like Daryl was a figure in a thick shroud of fog, but hearing how someone like him had struggled like someone like me made the fog evaporate till only the sun remained. I looked down at the ground as I dug the heel of my boots into the mud, ashamed that I'd actually wanted to see harm come to him. I wasn't ready to share my deepest thoughts with him, but it had become clear to me that my opinion on him had been warped by the way people glorified him and acted as though we didn't need anyone else so long as he was around.

"I care that Zach died …" I made sure I didn't look directly at him as I spoke, yet the words tumbled out of my mouth completely scorning my previous thoughts regarding how I COMPLETELY DIDN'T WANT TO TELL HIM MY INNERMOST FEELINGS. "I just … Do you think there's gonna be a good outcome to this?" I let myself look at him as I confessed the one thing that had been on my mind since the dead started walking.

"Maybe. Maybe not." He gave me the smallest hint of a smile which only made me smile too. He chuckled and shook his head and I followed, our laughing growing in volume before we noticed the fence straining against the weight of the walkers. "Wanna show me how well you shoot, Greene?"

We made the same journey out of the fence, through the hole that had been loosely tied when we first made the prison our home.

"Ready?" He spared a glance at me, to which I nodded. He ran into the fray, whistling loudly, giving me the opportunity to shoot at them.

I took a deep breath and crouched to pick up an arrow I had brought out with me. Settling the arrow into place I pulled the string hard, feeling the skin of my delicate fingertip split under the strain. The pain was sharp and quick, yet it made my breathing ragged and my heart pound in my ears. I loosed the arrow and it drove itself straight into the side of the head of the closest walker. I took down three more before Daryl stepped in and took down the rest.

"Good, but you're slow." He nodded once at me and I knew that was the closest I was going to get to a compliment.

I watched Daryl pick up the arrows I hadn't used when I felt a bony hand grab my shoulder. At first I thought it was Carol or one of the elder residents, but then it occurred to me that they were safely inside the gates and they didn't smell of decay. I dropped to the floor and the walker landed on top of me, almost crushing me with its weight. I used my strongest hand to hold its neck, forcing its mouth away from any of my flesh and desperately reached for my bow. If I could grab it, there was a small chance I could drive the tip through the walker's head. In hindsight, I should have screamed as soon as I saw the walker but my mouth was so dry it felt as though I hadn't tasted the sweet luxury of water in 500 years. My arm shook under the tension of the walker currently snapping its teeth in my general direction and could feel it giving out, but just as my arm fell to my side and I shut my eyes waiting for the my throat to be ripped apart the weight was lifted from me and Daryl came into view, holding out his hand to help me up.

"Took your time …" I panted and accepted the outstretched hand as he pulled me to my feet.

"I thought you were a lil bit trained?" His eyes scanned my body as he checked for bites or scratches.

"I'm not bit. I said I was an archer, not a fighting champion." The hand I'd used to push the walker away from me hurt as I tentatively prodded it to make sure it wasn't too badly injured.

"You 'aint got no muscles, Greene!" He pinched the skin on my arm and I yelped in surprise.

"Hey!" I held my arm defensively and collected my bow as I stepped back through the fence. A surge of appreciation surged through my veins and the distant feeling of friendship warmed my stomach."And Daryl?" I glanced back at him as he finished retrieving my arrows.

He looked over at me in answer as he pulled a splintered arrow from the eye socket of a walker.

"Thank you, I'm sorry I judged you so quick." I offered an apologetic look and retreated to my cell.

Later on that evening, when I was looking after Judith he came to see me. He didn't even tap the wall to alert me of his presence, he just invited himself inside which would have irked me, but since he saved my life I decided to drop it.

"Today weren't too heavy, were it?" His eyes were drawn to the thin bandage I had wrapped around my injured hand. "You're just a kid, I keep treatin' you like an adu-"

"I'm eighteen."

"You're still a kid to me." He raised an eyebrow and held out his arms for Judith.

I complied and watched the way he gracefully took care of the baby. I knew that wasn't the only reason he wanted to talk to me, he liked to think he was a man of mystery, but I could read him like an open book.

"I know you 'aint all that trustin' of me an' I spoke to Carol an' she decided that we should go on a run together." He glanced at me quickly, the words were carefully chosen as though he didn't want to anger me.

The concept of going on a run was something I had played about with recently, maybe then people would start seeing me as adult. One could only hope.

"What for?" I watched a captivated Judith stare intently up at Daryl.

"Well seein' as our only common interest is Lil Ass Kicker I was thinkin' some toys?" He'd probably been through this conversation with Carol, planned out each word efficiently and precisely with her to make sure he didn't offend me, but the way he forestalled looking into my eyes suggested that he'd completely forgotten what he'd meant to say and was just making it up as he went along; he was nervous.

"Tomorrow?" I nodded, the air around us was permeated with an awkward tension, as though neither of us wanted to be in this conversation but wanted to communicate.

"Glad t'see you're so enthusiastic, but hell no." His response was quicker than I would have liked and he seemed to notice that he'd insulted me. "A few more weeks trainin' ... An' you'd have to ask your Daddy." He finally met my eyes, but the look his possessed made my stomach crawl with the familiar sense of guilt.

"Why can't you ask him, he isn't ever gonna let me go." I frowned slightly and turned to face him, before remembering how little my Father trusted Daryl because of Merle.

"I think you know the answer t'that." He responded and just murmured a few words to Judith to fill the silence.

"I'll go now, you mind lookin' after Judith?" I stood up and swallowed, this was going to be a fun talk.

"Nothin' I 'aint done before."

I found my Dad sitting in the library in deep discussion with Rick and Tyreese, their voices were no more than hushed whispers but I could just make out what they were saying:

"We don't know that it's them."

"It doesn't matter if it's them, we know that the threat is there. A threat that needs to be eliminated."

A pause.

"Who do we send?"

"Daryl, Michonne, Maggie, Glenn-"

"We're not sending Maggie or Glenn. Their frustration overrides their good judgement."

Not wanting to hear anymore, I gently knocked on the door, flashing them my sweetest smile.

"Hey Daddy." I waved slightly. "Am I interruptin' somethin'?" My eyes widened slightly as I looked at the three faces that stared intently back at me.

"Of course not, Beth. Come on in." Rick motioned me forward. I like Rick, his judgements could be questioned sometimes, but he was kind and sweet and always looked out for the group's best interest. I stepped forward and wrung my hands as a nervous habit.

"Um, well Daryl's been trainin' me and um he'd like me to get permission to go out on a run with him …" I watched my Dad as the colour slowly drained from his face. The thought of his youngest child growing up must have made him feel sick. "In a few weeks or so, mind. He says I'm not ready yet."

The eyes that were directed at me fell upon my Dad and he looked down at the table. "It has to be Daryl?" He looked up at me and I noticed the lines that covered his face; he was a much different man to the one he'd been a year ago.

"Like Maggie said, he's the best we've got." Why I was defending Daryl came as a shock to everyone in the room, including myself. We were more alike than we had previously thought and that was a comfort to me. My family felt like strangers regarding the situations I had been in, whereas a simple conversation with Daryl had forced me to notice a bond between us. A bond I would prefer to be nonexistent but it was the only thing I had that made me remember what it was like to feel as though I was living and not simply surviving.

"Who knew you two were best buds?" Rick smirked and looked at Tyreese who nodded, but I noticed the way he avoided looking at my Father. "She has a point, Herschel. Daryl would keep her safe, you know that."

The room fell silent for a second or so, the weight of the request hung dangerously in the air as he considered the options. I could see that he put in deep amounts of thought into the pros and cons of every option open to him, before he finally settled on an answer.

"If you get hurt, may heaven have mercy upon him."

**AN - This was such a fun chapter to write! As always, reviews are appreciated! Do you prefer seeing things from Beth or Daryl's perspective? I feel like I slip into writing in Beth's perspective whereas Daryl is much more of a challenge. Let me know some of the things you'd like to see and if I can, I'll add them in!**


	4. Good Men Don't Deserve Self Loathing

Over the next few weeks my time was consumed by the frequent group talks Rick insisted were too important for me to miss and wasting my time training Beth Greene. Our relationship had inched its way towards friendship during our two hour sessions and she was more open to me now, though our arguments were still frequent. Our most recent bust up came when I told her to do an extra lap for her training that day and she had to look after Lil Ass Kicker.

"Carol can handle her." I had been sat against the wall as I ensured she did her laps, her skin was peppered with glistening beads of sweat and the loose pieces of hair she usually left hanging were plastered to her temples.

"Maybe I wanna look after her." The kid had a mouth on her too, making me ache for the days where I only looked in her direction and she would scurry away.

"Tough shit." I spat on the ground beside me and nodded at her to keep running, but she stood where she was, hands on her hips.

"I thought we were okay." She had frowned, reminding me of the apprehensive girl she had once been, uncertain and nervous. I chewed the inside of my cheek and stood up. The top of her head came to shoulder and she had to crane her neck slightly to look up at me.

"An' what? You wanted to best friends an' make daisy chains?" I watched her swallow her retort and jog off to do her final lap and I allowed myself to savour the sweet sense of victory.

Afterwards, I took her inside to have breakfast and she complained the _entire_ way that the extra lap I gave her had made her stomach implode in famine and I'd silenced her by informing her she didn't know what hunger was, creating an icy atmosphere between us. Rolling my eyes I left her at the entrance of the cell block to sit at my own table to enjoy my breakfast in beautiful silence, but to my annoyance she stood beside me, hovering like some bug that needed to be swatted.

"You want somethin', Greene?" I kept my eyes on my bowl of porridge to reinforce that our conversation was over.

"Zach's friends keep glarin' at me." She whispered as she shuffled from foot to foot. "Come on Daryl, _please._" I felt her eyes dart about and grimaced at the people beginning to stare.

Desperate to avoid the glares I moved my crossbow from the seat next to me and allowed her to sit. We ate in silence until I put my finger in my mouth to suck off some of the breakfast that had spilled from my spoon and onto my hand.

"Why do you do that?" Her voice was soft as her blue doe eyes focussed on me, feeling a flush crawl up my neck I cleared my throat and wiped my finger on my trousers.

"You get more flavour, don't ya?" I murmured, boring holes into my bowl from embarrassment. "Merle used t'do it."

Our table went silent for a moment as I slipped into the memories of my childhood I had tried so desperately to repress.

"_Merle, give it back!" A boy of around six years of age with shaggy brown hair chases a boy at least four years older than him through a broken down shack. The walls are half painted and there are floor boards that threaten to jut out at uneven angles. The elder boy, Merle, has cropped blond hair which he appears to have cut himself, his clothes are dirty but appear to have been hastily scrubbed in an attempt to make them appear clean. In his left hand he holds an ice cream that belongs to the younger boy which has begun to melt and has dripped down his hand, creating mint green and chocolate brown swirls that fill the gaps between his fingers. Finally, he relents and passes the cone to the little boy._

"_Come on, Darlena, this is the best part!" Merle yells in delight as he sucks the mess from his fingers._

"_My name's Daryl, not Darlena!" Daryl pouts, though his eyes are transfixed as he watches the elder boy suck his fingers clean. "Why do you do that?" He grimaces as Merle's fingers glisten with saliva._

"_It tastes better, don't it baby brother?" Merle chuckles and ruffles his younger brother's hair, prompting Daryl to tentatively dip his finger into the mushy remains of his ice cream. _

_Examining the mess on his finger, Daryl pops it into his mouth and sucks enthusiastically, trying to imitate his brother. His eyes light up as he beams at Merle, grinning in wonder._

"_Merle, you were right! It tastes … It tastes like …" Daryl's eyebrows knot in confusion as his limited vocabulary prohibits him from saying what he means._

"_Sweeter, don't it? You get more flavour! Your big brother Merle-" Merle's moment of celebration is cut short by a deep voice that bellows from the stairs above them:_

"_What are you shits screamin' about?!" Boot clad feet stamp down the stairs, drawing closer to the two boys._

_Daryl scurries behind his big brother, who holds an arm out protectively; nothing in the world will harm his baby brother._

Something cold reached out and held my hand gently, catching me off guard.

Paranoid she had somehow witnessed the memory I had just recalled I stood with a start, tearing my hand from hers as I stormed out of the room with my crossbow in hand. I needed a fucking cigarette.

"Looks like you're just as messed up as me, huh?" I was sat in the guard tower, taking on an extra watch just incase those punks who jumped me the other day came back. Not that I thought they would, they were too organised to just attack a well guarded prison and that's if they even found the prison, though I imagined it wouldn't have been that hard considering how close the bus had crashed. Rick had pushed the idea of extra watches forward, so there I was when Carl made his entrance.

"Guess so, Sheriff." I nodded slightly at his hat as I took a drag from the cigarette I had currently lit. _Runnin' out … Better get more soon. _I reminded myself. You'd think the end of the world would kick a bad habit like that, but old habits refuse to die out it seemed.

"You gonna tell me what happened back there?" Carl perched himself next to me and held out his hand for a drag.

"Nothin' happened back there." I grunted and just watched his outstretched hand, an incredulous look in my eye. "Your daddy would kill me."

The atmosphere turned cold at the mention of Rick and the look in Carl's eyes burned a hatred deeper than I would have given a kid his age credit for. I sighed softly and hoisted myself up onto the railing of the watchtower, nodding for him to join me.

"He's a good man." I took a sideways glance at Carl who just stared at the floor beneath him, which had suddenly became very interesting to him. "'Aint nothin' like my old man." I smirked softly and looked out at the desolate wasteland that surrounded the prison, I'd often thought about what the place looked like before all this shit happened.

"He let my Mom die." Carl's reply was laced with venom and as I looked at him I noticed his jaw was clenched tight, the kid really hated his Pa.

"Hey! Your Daddy loved her. You know tha' better than anyone." I prodded his arm gently and he sighed and just looked at me, a look of confusion in his eye that had completely replaced the previous hatred.

"Like you love Carol?"

I spluttered and faced him, face distorted in an expression of horror. Carol meant more to me than anyone in this world, but _love_ her? No, not in a long shot.

"N'aw I don't love Carol, care abou' her an awful lot though." I nodded, those words sounded right on my tongue. They conveyed the exact feelings I had for her. Sophia's daddy had never cared about her, much like mine had never cared for me. Weren't no way I was letting that kid die without a proper search.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, until a truck made its way to the gates. It was once a metallic black, but months of driving through wet dirt and rain water had turned the paint a murky brown that reminded me of dried blood, a sign that warned bad fortune.

"Go get your daddy … Keep your head down." I nodded at Carl who ducked his head low and jogged down the steps.

Crossbow trained on the target and my senses in overdrive I watched the vehicle slowly make its way to the gates that had been hastily held up after one of the Governor's pricks had smashed straight through. I tore my eyes off the car for a minute to see small dots pouring out of the cell block. I ticked them off silently: Glenn, Maggie, Rick, Michone, Tyreese, Carol and … _Beth? _The hell were they thinking bringing her out here? There was no way she was trained for hostile _living _people, she was too weak and too innocent. Killing a man would weigh her down for months, surely her daddy knew that? Or perhaps he didn't have a choice …

I spotted her bow in her hands and was reassured to see she had taken my advice to poke holes around the waist of her trousers to easily access arrows seeing as she was without a quiver. I had _not_ been wasting my time training this girl for her to get killed in a shootout. She might be able to take down a few guys, but she was too slow with her aim … Something I had been planning on fixing.

A man I'd never seen before stepped out of the car with hands raised in surrender, but for a fleeting second I was convinced he was The Governor. My vision blurred with anger as I thought of him, thought of Merle, thought of Andrea, thought of all the people he had killed.

"I don't come to cause you harm." The voice rang out, but he was too far from the walkers to catch their attention. "I got a request to make, please."

"Who are you?" Rick stepped out from his cover hesitantly with his gun poised and ready to shoot if needed. "Why are you here?" Some people we had accepted from Woodbury had been milling about, but the sight of the car had frozen them in their tracks.

"My name is Joe and our group … Our group was attacked. We went out looking for them this morning and … We found a bus not too far from here overturned and filled with the undead. We want to know if you knew anything about it." On closer inspection Joe had greying hair that hung in limp strands around his face, he was wearing a black leather jacket and a knife rested on his waistband.

"You … You were attacked too?" Rick lowered his weapon slightly, taken aback. _Put your gun up, Rick … _"Where?"

"Down yonder." Joe swept his hand, motioning to somewhere beyond the trees. "We'd real appreciate if you let us in, our base is … Gone. We brought all we could …! Food, weapons, clean clothes…"

Rick's head turned to me. Since renouncing his leadership he'd never been the one to make a sole decision. I shook my head slightly, but it seemed as though he had anticipated my answer. He turned to look at the rest. More people nodded than those who shook their heads. _Stupid. _Rick slowly made his way down to the gates with Tyreese and Glenn, allowing the newbies car to drive in.

The day was spent by the others welcoming the newcomers, I didn't bother learning their names. If I had anything to do with it they wouldn't be staying long. I went to find Carol, hand't spoke to her for a while with her looking after Lil Ass Kicker and me prepping her friend for 'war'.

"You've been avoiding her." Carol spoke before I had even entered the room and I knew straight away she was talking about Beth. Couldn't _someone_ give me a fucking break? I exhaled deeply and went inside her cell.

"'Aint got no reason to." I leant back against the wall, left leg crossed over the right and my arms folded.

"I thought you two were getting along okay." She faced me as she folded some clothes, her eyes filled with disappointment and I averted her gaze, feeling ashamed.

"We were…" I grumbled slightly. _But then I remembered how much of a fuck up I am. _I wanted to add, but stopped. Weren't gonna be having no conversation like that with Carol.

"Daryl Dixon, stop being a child." She smirked slightly and glanced at me mischievously.

Flustered, I unfolded my arms and rolled my eyes. "I 'aint no child!" I glared at her, before skulking back against the wall and looking away.

"Alright then, petulant teenager." I opened my mouth to reply, but she carried on speaking, not giving me a chance to defend myself. "I notice the way she looks at you now. She admires you. And if you ask me, you don't want her to see you the way you see yourself. I saw that look in your eyes at breakfast this morning and I know you were in a bad place." I detected a hint of sadness in her voice, as though I'd cut myself off to hurt her specifically.

"That 'aint it." I shrugged it off, though that was exactly what it was. I liked that Beth and I could talk, but there weren't a way on this earth I was letting her get close. I valued Beth's innocence and I'd only ruin that by burdening my daddy issues on her, something she didn't need.

"Then go and talk to her, what's the problem?" She shrugged softly.

"I'm the problem." I smiled sadly at her and left.

That evening I made my way to the watch tower and found Beth waiting for me.

"Not today, Greene." I turned on my heel and made my way downstairs, but her hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Why won't you talk to me? I thought we were friends." She looked intently at me, waiting for a response. The innocence in her eyes killed me and I sighed softly before sitting beside her, was this how she got her daddy to relent to me training her?

"You know how t'guilt trip, doe eyes." I shook my head softly and chuckled at the smile that spread over her lips.

"I just wanna know what's up with you." Though it was dark her figure was illuminated perfectly and her hair looked almost silver in the moonlight that cascaded down her back. It was the first time I'd seen her hair down and I realised it was full of soft curls that somehow, even in the apocalypse, managed to frame her face impeccably.

"You din't even wanna speak t'me three weeks ago."

"Well it's different now."

"Different how?" I frowned slightly. Our conversation was quick as though we already knew what the other was going to say.

"I don't know, I can actually stand the sight of you." She smiled playfully and tucked her knees to her chin.

"Real smooth." I stared out at the dark sky and felt her hand rest over mine.

"I'm not much of a good person, not like my daddy, but I'm a good listener." Her voice was delicate and reminded me of a flower petal that swayed in a summer breeze.

"I'm sure you are, Petal." The nickname had sounded a lot better in my head. "It's just … Your voice is always soft an' reminds me of summer an' …" I trailed off, thankful for the darkness as the blush on my face would have been clear for her to see.

"Petal. I like it." She squeezed my hand slightly tighter. In any other circumstance I would have shoved her away, but tonight felt different, it felt like comfort..

We sat in silence for what felt like hours, her hand over mine the whole time. I'd never even felt this close with Carol and it just seemed that Beth was this entity of good feeling in this fucking dump of a world.

"I thought of my pa." I closed my eyes, though I was fairly certain Beth couldn't see me because it had grown so dark. "Thought of Merle an' me." I hadn't said a lot, but she seemed to understand. "I don't wanna turn out like my pa." I said so softly I could barely hear, but she had.

"So what if you do?"

"I'd be worse than what I am now." I stared at the sky, my voice a hushed whisper. "I 'aint even able t'remember the last time I was sad." I sighed deeply.

"Maybe not, but you felt a lotta different feelin's since then." Her statement confused me, apart from rage there wasn't anything else I'd felt. "You felt guilty about not bringin' those boys home. The ones you took scavengin'? It takes a lot more to feel guilt than it does to feel sad." I turned to face her and was shocked to find a lone tear trickle down her cheek.

"Why're you cryin'?" My lack of empathy was evident in that moment despite my soft voice that was filled with both confusion and concern.

"Because it breaks my heart to see someone like you treat yourself the way you do." Her voice was barely a whisper, as though she had breathed the words rather than said them.

"I treat myself just fine."

"No … You're a good man Daryl Dixon and good men don't deserve self loathing." Beth leaned forward and softly kissed my cheek before retiring to her cell, leaving me with my fingertips stroking the spot where her warm lips had been.

**AN - Sorry this chapter was meant to go up yesterday, but I swear I edited it about four different times before settling on this one! I feel like their friendship would evolve quickly as Beth is quite an affectionate person and Daryl is the type of guy that needs a hug. **


	5. The Little Lady Won't Be No Trouble

**AN - Man, this chapter was so difficult to write! I don't want it to feel like their relationship is growing too fast and that they'll end up in love with each other by the end of the week, but I feel as though Daryl and Beth's relationship is so strong and evident it wouldn't take them too long to feel something for one another.**

**Mild threat of rape in this one, it's nothing too graphic but I'd hate for one of you to feel uncomfortable!**

As I made my way back to my cell I thought about the look in Daryl's eyes as he told me about his father. I hadn't liked Daryl all that much before three weeks ago, but I knew he was a good man. I felt like we had a connection that ran deeper than simply liking each other. We were opposites, but were more similar than either of us could have imagined. He was pessimistic, brooding and withdrawn whereas I was always trying to look at the bright side, open and sociable but we'd somehow found ourselves in almost identical situations. Kissing his cheek had felt different though, I had to admit. I'd kissed Rick's cheek before, but it hadn't felt anything like kissing Daryl. I'd left before I could see his reaction, but I could have guessed that he was probably just as embarrassed as I was.

The next morning, after feeding Judith I went to the courtyard to train with Daryl when I spotted him talking to Carol. He was wearing a brown leather jacket over a brown vest and it seemed as though every top he wore was always cut at the shoulders in a makeshift vest. However, my attention was stolen by the way he spoke to Carol, focusing as he spoke, his features contorted in concentration. He was playing with his knife, throwing it and catching, not really paying attention but he seemed to know where the knife was going to land and when to catch it. I caught myself smiling at the sight and blinked rapidly as I cleared my throat to let them know I was there.

"Hey, sweetie." Carol smiled gently and after casting Daryl a warning gaze she left.

"What was that abou-" I asked him, turning around to watch Carol retreat to the cell block.

"'Aint none of your goddamn business, kid." He replied and brushed past me as he made his way over to Joe's group, I followed him, refusing to allow myself to be beaten by his mood swing. The fact he called me kid hurt. He'd always been complaining about how no one treated me like an adult despite being eighteen but now he was brushing me off as if I wasn't good enough to vye for his attention. "I'm goin' out today, Rick told me one of y'all would join me."

"Is the little lady coming to?" Joe tilted his chin at me and I swear I noticed Daryl clench his fists as the men stared me up and down.

"I am actually, yes." I stood up straighter and put my hands on my hips, my bow was already slung over one shoulder so there was no need to go back for it and risk Daryl leaving with the other men.

"What? No you 'aint-" I'd finally absorbed Daryl's attention and seeing him flustered gave me the hint of a smile.

"Come on now, she looks like she can handle herself, sure she won't be a problem." Joe smiled at Daryl, but it all felt off and I suddenly regretted acting so bold. It felt as though Daryl and Joe had met before by the way they looked at each other. Joe's arrogant smirk and taunting eyes were locked upon Daryl's face and to my surprise, his features gave away nothing.

"Fine, she can come."

If Daryl was concerned about receiving my father's permission he sure didn't show it now. We piled into the black car that Joe's group had arrived in yesterday and I found myself sat next to Daryl, surprised that he didn't take the motorcycle. Joe and three of his men joined us.

"So what are we looking for, fellas? Oh, and lady." Joe made sure to catch Daryl's eye before addressing me, so I just smiled bashfully and looked away.

"Guns an' baby food." Daryl grunted and relaxed in his seat before staring out at the window, ensuring there would be no conversation between us.

Just yesterday we were getting along and I thought we were getting somewhere, but now …? Perhaps I'd overstepped the line by kissing him, it had only ever meant to be for reassurance but it seemed as though he had taken it offensively.

I hadn't been this far from the prison in a long time, especially not in a car. I watched the overgrown fields race past me and slowly unwound the window longing to feel the rush of cold air on my face but as if he knew what I was thinking, Daryl pulled my wrist which yanked me from pushing the button. I whipped my head to face him, but all he did was shake his head.

Minutes later, we reached a broken down shopping complex that was probably crawling with walkers and I felt the discomforting sensation of apprehension fill my stomach. _I shouldn't be here …_ Daryl seemed to sense that too and reassuringly squeezed my hand before I even knew what happened. So he wasn't mad at me. Despite being in such a dangerous situation the thought of Daryl being okay with me made my heart soar. The car doors were opened and I hesitantly stepped onto the gravel, clenching my bow tight I was sent to check the front of the store due to being the smallest.

"'Aint no way she's goin' first." Daryl pulled me back as I set off, there wasn't any point in arguing with them. If it turned nasty there were three of them and two of us. "You don't gotta do this." I felt his hand loosely hold my wrist.

"I'm fine …" I mumbled, staring at his hand that was around my wrist and to my horror as I looked up, he did too meaning we had both been staring at the contact between us. _As if you could get any more embarrassing._

"You finished?" Joe asked, eyebrow raised. He and the other men were smirking and Daryl quickly withdrew his hand to wipe his mouth, yet again brushing me off. "Off you go then, little lady."

Inhaling deeply I climbed atop one of the broken down cars whilst crouching low to avoid detection. There were too many groups of small groups of walkers just walking around to count. They didn't even move in a specific direction, just followed whatever noise they heard. I looked back to tell Joe what I'd seen.

"We can take 'em." His men nodded in agreement, then he raised an eyebrow at Daryl. "Can't we?"

"We can. She 'aint." Daryl nodded at me, not even bothering to look.

"What are you talkin' about?" I jumped down from the car and strided over to him, ready to argue my case.

"I 'aint havin' your blood on my hands." He slowly turned to face me with his eyes rolling as he spoke.

"It's my choice, Daryl. _Mine._"

Daryl nodded apologetically at Joe and his comrades and pulled me aside, leaning in close so he was talking in a loud whisper. His breath smelt of stale cigarettes, but it wasn't a bad smell … Just _Daryl's_ smell.

"What are you playin' at, Beth?" His voice a growl, he held my arm tighter.

"Daryl, you're hurtin' me!" I made sure to stare into his eyes as I spoke, my blue irises watered slightly at the thought of him so willingly hurting me.

"I'm keepin' you safe!" He pulled me closer, so his lips were against my ear. "They 'aint good people."

"How can you know?" I breathed, barely able to talk. His breath against my ear felt glorious and reminded me of the sweet nothings Jimmy would murmur when we would lay in one of the fields and look at the starry night sky.

"I used t'be like 'em." He nodded once and pulled away before walking back over to Joe. A sense of animosity was felt as they stared us down, eyes lingering on my body and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand.

"I'll take lookout." I offered a small shrug though my voice was meek and tinged with apprehension. They slowly made their way towards us and Daryl gently pushed me behind him.

"You're Merle Dixon's baby brother, aren't you?" One of the men piped up from the back as they circled us. He was a tall man, certainly taller than Joe, who also had a bow. His was a far better make than mine and judging by the way his adept fingers played across the string I could tell he was far better trained than I was too.

The mention of Merle made Daryl tense and his head turned as he sized up the group. They all had their weapons raised and poised at him, waiting for Joe's signal. They fell silent, waiting for a response from Daryl who remained tight lipped.

"Who's Merle?" My voice was a lot louder than I had intended and Daryl whipped his head back to shoot me a glare, before pulling me down with him as he ducked. An arrow and bullet collided, shattering the metal of the arrow which rained upon us in burning hot pieces.

"The little lady is a liar! You know what we do with liars!" Joe threw his head back and howled with laughter and held out his arms, allowing his men to swarm upon us.

As if he had expected it, Daryl seized my bow and drove it into the head of the closest man with a speed I didn't think possible. A moment of stillness assumed as the the other two men looked back at Joe, waiting for their leader to instruct them further.

"Well?! Kill 'em!" He roared as he clouted the closest man on the ear before joining the fray.

Daryl shoved me back, taking on the two men as they progressed towards him. My eyes watered and I scrambled back, he was still holding my bow so I had no means of protecting myself as Joe dropped to his knees and began crawling after me. He was mocking my futile attempts of escape, catcalling me as Daryl was thrown to the ground by one man and was held down by another. I was too distracted by Daryl's defeat to notice how close Joe was to me.

My head turned to face Joe, expecting to see him watching his men beat Daryl, but to my disgust his face met mine. We were so close our noses touched and he slowly began to crawl up, forcing me to lay down. He leaned down from above and licked the side of my neck as I had turned my head to face Daryl again, hoping he had somehow managed to escape. A small whimper escaped my mouth as my stomach churned.

"Don't touch her!" I watched as Daryl kicked against the aggressors holding him down. He looked like a wild animal in a cage, desperate to escape. "Don't fuckin' touch her!" His yells were verging on screeches, punctuated by kicks to the men's ribs. A punch in the mouth from the tallest one silenced him.

Joe had stopped tormenting me to watch Daryl. He laughed softly, dangerously quiet before sliding his hand up my top, eliciting another sob from my shaking frame.

"Like that?" He smirked softly and bent down to kiss my stomach. My eyes watered and it felt like my throat was about to close from panic before I remembered something Daryl had taught me back when we had first started training. I turned as fast as I could, spinning him off balance before I brought up my knee and felt it connect with his chin, sending a loud crack through the air as his jaw snapped.

I pinned Joe down before straddling him, pulling his knife from his waistband so hard I felt the fabric tear. The edges of my vision blurred in rage as I brought the knife down upon his neck again and again and again. His hand feebly reached for me in a pathetic attempt to end the onslaught, but I didn't stop. I stabbed him even after I heard the _chink!_ of the metal knife hitting the cement beneath us, the only thing that stopped me from stabbing was when a rough hand dragged me from the carcass and a warm body smelling of stale cigarettes enveloped me in their arms.

"Sh Petal, it's alrigh' .." Daryl's usually gruff tone was pleasantly soft as he rocked me. The adrenalin lasted only seconds before I dissolved into sobs that racked through my body.

My eyes were fixated on my bloodied hands that shook so hard my teeth chattered but Daryl, noticing the walkers that slowly began to form around us picked me up.

"Come on, we gotta go …" He gently sat me in the passenger seat of the car and rested my bow across my lap to prove it wasn't broken.

He drove for about an hour, but I was too shaky to protest. He stopped in a field, the grass was up to my ankles as he helped me out of the car.

"Come see this." His tone was laced with the excitement that he tried to cover up and he held my blood caked hand as he led me across to a lake that had a large rock with water spilling over the top and I supposed it resembled a small waterfall. The water glittered as the sun filtered through tiny gaps the canopy above us allowed. The height of the trees were so high the leaves surrounding the area gave off the impression that the we were under a dome of leafy tranquility.

"Found it with Michonne one day." He explained, letting go of my hand, he made his way over to one of the smooth rocks that dipped into the water and kicked off his shoes and socks before shrugging off his jacket and pulling his vest over his head.

I was surprised to see that the redneck _did_ have some muscle, especially in the abdomen, but it was visibly bruised from the beating he had taken from the two men he'd failed to at first take down. The thought of what had just happened seared through my mind and I stopped looking at Daryl to stare at my hands again, ashamed of what I'd done.

"Well, 'aint you comin' over?" I could tell he was being kind on purpose, he clearly didn't know how to react to the situation.

"I liked you better when you were mad." I said hoarsely as I slowly walked to the rock he was sitting on.

"Got a sass mouth, 'aint'ya?" He smirked and held my hands as I sat down.

Daryl picked up his shirt he'd taken off and dipped it tentatively into the water.

"Your bruises look bad …" I whispered, reaching forward to examine his body but he stopped me and set me back.

"N'aw, they don't hurt. I'm gonna wash the blood off, alrigh'?" He looked at me, as if asking for permission and I'm certain we blushed at the same time as I nodded.

His gentleness never failed to amaze me. Here he was, toughest guy in the group washing blood off of my hands. It felt almost poetic, as if by literally washing the blood off of my hands he was telling me that what happened wasn't my fault and I should wash my conscience of all that happened.

"How did you get rid of the other two?" I asked as I watched his hands moved silently across my own, washing away all evidence of what I'd done.

"When you were … Yanno … I managed to get the jump on 'em." He shrugged.

"You blush a lot." I blurted out, before silently cursing myself. Why did I have to ruin everything good?

He shrugged in response and finished cleaning off my hands. "You wanna talk about it …?"

"No."

"Alrigh'."

We sat quietly for a few minutes, silently watching the water cascade down the rocks and spatter into a frothy mess at the bottom.

"You saved our lives back there." He looked at me and once again held my hand.

A hot flush crept up my neck and I looked everywhere but at him, as if avoiding his gaze would somehow distract me from his touch. Daryl was unlike anyone I'd ever known and had this been any other man his age I would have shrugged it off and thought it was weird but with Daryl … It felt like he knew what I needed at exactly the right time, but enjoyed doing it too; not feeling like he was forced to comfort me because he was the only one around. I stroked his hand softly with my thumb as we sat on the rock and after a few minutes his fingers slowly interlocked themselves with mine. I turned to look at him, unable to refrain from glancing at his torso, I slowly inched closer to him until I was able to wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself closer to him.

"Beth …" He warned and I reluctantly pulled away to see what was wrong. "You shouldn' be gettin' too close." I frowned slightly and moved back to where I was sitting before. "No, not like tha'. I mean …" He played with his hands and licked his lips as he carefully thought out his next words, not wanting me to get the wrong impression. "I'm just not a good guy." He looked up from his hands and into my eyes. the intensity within them begged me to understand. Not get angry or upset or hurt, just understand

"Are we really goin' over this again?" I chuckled nervously and shook my head softly. "How many times do I have to tell you you're a good person?" I sighed and looked out at the water. If he wasn't even going to try to see what I meant there wasn't much else I could do for him.

"I care abou' you." He gently tugged my wrist in order for him to look into my eyes again. "I 'aint ever been so …" He clenched his teeth. "Scared to lose someone before."

It seemed as though he didn't want to admit that I mattered, but even still I felt the corners of my lips pull into a smile and I rested a hand against his cheek so he met my eyes again. "I care about you too."

The sentiment of my words drowned me in undying affection for Daryl and he pulled me close, hugging me as tight as he possibly could with his head buried in my neck.

"Daryl …?" I whispered, stroking his hair as he held me. The sun was warm on my back and the sound of birdsong was comforting as all the horrors that had happened but an hour ago seeped away and left me to enjoy the moment.

"Mmm?" He murmured in response and I could tell his eyes were closed. It occurred to me that Daryl had never felt this type of comfort before and I felt my heart ache before I pushed it to the corner of my mind.

"Can this be our special place where only we go?" I looked up at the canopy and squinted slightly at the bright rays of sunshine that forced its way through the gaps in trees.

"Don't ruin the moment." He smirked against my shoulder and pulled away from the hug.

He quickly got dressed again, as if our short exchange of words hadn't changed the mood. I sighed softly and got up, drying my wrists as best I could before trudging back to the car with him.

"Beth?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell anybody abou' this an' I'll kill'ya."

"I expected nothin' less." I smirked softly and watched him get into the car. I turned quickly to take in one last look of the lake before settling into the passenger seat next to him.

And it was then, with the sun beaming overhead as the roads rushed past us in a neverending blur, that Daryl Dixon became the reason I lived in this world and not simply survived.


	6. Maybe He Already Did

**AN - ****I am so sorry about the lack of updates on this story, I've been so busy with other things and other stories and it's driving me mad. Anyway, here we are. Chapter six. Thank you so much for the reviews, favourites and follows on my new story 'Crystalise'!**

It was safe to say that Beth Greene had a profound effect on me. Driving her back to the prison had been relatively painless for me, sure Maggie and Herschel had been scared for Beth but I hadn't been interrogated by either of them. Yet.

It was dark by the time we headed back and most of the people from Woodbury had gone to bed, so I guessed it had to be late. The original group were waiting up for us though, which didn't surprise me. The majority crowded around Beth, swarming her with questions about what had happened so I saw no need for me to be there. I made my way into the cell block and trudged up the stairs before kicking off my boots and taking off my shirt which was still soaked from using it to wipe off the blood from Beth.

As I lay there I thought about what had happened. I knew something like this was going to happen; Beth being attacked in some way. It was what Carol and I had been talking about earlier, when Beth had first came out into the courtyard. Carol seemed to have a knack for detecting dangerous men, perhaps it had been from being married to a dick like Ed for so many years. She'd wanted me to get rid of them quietly, not kill then of course, just ... Get rid of them.

Bringing Beth had been a huge mistake and could have cost me dearly. Could I live with myself if something happened to her because I didn't force her to stay home? Probably not, so why had I risked it? I felt as though I already knew the answer.

Beth was so different to me it was intriguing. We had different outlooks on everything, but the same views on the things that mattered, like survival. She made me feel different to anyone else in the group, like she could just tap into how I was feeling and make me feel comfortable without even trying and I was convinced that she knew how fond I was of her.

There had been moments between us where something could have happened, I'd be ignorant to deny it and I think she felt them too. Of course I was aware at how sick this was, whatever kind of fucked up relationship we had but I felt like it ran deeper than that. No one had been able to convince me that there could be a good outcome to this ... Apocalypse apart from Beth.

It seemed she was the light where I was the dark, yet she was the one who was in a dark place and I was coping relatively well. What issues, bar Merle had I had? Whereas she had lost her mother once to 'sickness' and lost her twice to death. She had fallen into a deep depression and had gone as far as trying to end her life. Beth Greene deserved so much better than what she had.

I was finally drifting off when a small tap on my shoulder dragged me from my sleepy state. I bolted upright, crossbow in hand as my eyes darted around the small room.

"It's me." Beth's voice was barely above a whisper and I had clearly frightened her. I put my crossbow down and pulled up the sheets after realising my bare chest. It wasn't that I minded her seeing, far from it actually, it was that she'd caught me off guard.

"What's th'matter?" I frowned slightly, holding one sheet up with my right hand and rubbing my eyes with the left. I tilted my head slightly in order to focus on her.

"Can we go to one of the towers?" She whispered and turned away for me to get changed.

"I got somethin' better." Grumbling, I made my way to the supply cupboards that only Herschel, Rick and I had keys for.

I spread the two sleeping bags across the flat roof of the prison, you easily got the best view from here. Beth stood close to the edge drinking in her surroundings and I layed back on my bag watching the moonlight highlight her frame.

She looked tired and the bags beneath her eyes told me as much. I assumed she simply couldn't sleep, which wasn't exactly out of the ordinary considering how she'd left Joe.

"C'mon over here," I nodded slightly at her sleeping bag and she quickly obliged. "You holdin' up okay?" I knew it wasn't like me to be so concerned over someone, but my first human kill didn't exactly wash well with me, despite contrary belief.

"As well as I can." Her eyes shifted focus as she looked at me and suddenly there was an intensity in the air I had felt all too often with her. My stomach twisted into knots and I couldn't look anywhere but her lips. My head was for me to stop this, that this wasn't right. What would her daddy say? What would Rick say? But it seemed as though my body was hellbent on ignoring my head.

I cupped her face and kissed her hard. My forehead rested against her as we kissed and her hands found their way to my wrists which she stroked gently. The time we spent kissing passed in a blur and was ruined when a painful moan escaped my mouth and I forced myself to pull away.

My body had finally caught up to my thoughts and I panted slightly as my hands pulled at my hair. I closed my eyes and raked my hands through my hair as I stood with a start. I felt Beth stand behind me and suddenly I was kissing her again, picking her up and holding her to me. She tasted sweet, like everything that was good and free and honest in this world and her lips were soft, better than I ever could have imagined. I walked us to the sleeping bags and rested her down gently as I kissed her cheeks, her jaw, her neck. She giggled slightly and encouraged me, guiding my hands to her hips. I ran my thumbs over her pronounced hip bones and felt her gasp against my lips.

After a few minutes of us kissing like that I pulled away for the last time. Her lips had swollen slightly and her arms were draped around my neck as she whispered how much she had wanted this in my ear.

"No one finds out." I said softly as I stroked the length of her arm, yes I felt guilty but there was no way on this earth that I'd ever regret it. The soft breeze blew thin locks of her hair into my face, but they didn't bother me, not in the slightest.

It was an odd sensation, the feelings I had for Beth were feelings I shouldn't have. Either way, I had them and I had no intention of ridding myself of them. We sat in silence after that and watched the sky. My head was a flurry of thoughts that I couldn't even begin to make sense of, but I knew I was happy here with her.

I let out a long sigh and she tilted her head slightly as she smiled at me. I wasn't one for soppy shit, but that smile could keep a man living.

"Are you okay?" She kissed my cheek gently.

"Yeah, are you?" I turned my head in her direction slightly, she nodded but I could see her blush.

We lay back on the sleeping bags after that and I closed my eyes with her in my arms.

"'_Aint no one gonna love'ya Daryl!" Merle is considerably older now, verging on early twenties whereas Daryl, aged seventeen stands opposite. "No one 'cept me! I'm the only one who actually gives a shit about'ya!"_

_The room falls silent with a leaden atmosphere as the two men stare each other down. Moments before Merle had told Daryl he was leaving and asked him to go with him, but Daryl had refused. _

"_Who's gonna look after the old man?!" Daryl had argued with Merle, ye she hated his father but could he leave the man to fend for himself? No. In Daryl's eyes Will Dixon, despite beating him black and blue and showing no love or concern for him, was still his father and was still his flesh and blood and there would never be a time where Daryl would leave family. Unlike Merle._

"_Fine then baby brother." Merle had nodded, deflated. He'd never show Daryl how betrayed he felt. He'd looked after and had raised Daryl practically by himself and this is how he had been repaid? Being ditched for the pathetic excuse of a father they had? It didn't sit right with Merle and there was no way he was going to allow himself to be dragged down with Daryl._

"_You made'ya choice." Merle spat at Daryl and slammed the door shut. _

_It had been the first time since he was a little boy that Daryl cried._

I was jolted awake the next morning by the _very _early morning sun. I frowned at the absence of Beth Greene in my arms, but relaxed when I saw her sat on the edge of the roof. Her feet dangled over the edge as the sky ran red in the morning light. I rubbed my eyes and joined her.

"Mornin'." She smiled as she yawned, stretching her arms out.

I grunted in response as I ducked away from her outstretched arms, she turned to face me and her entire body was asking me to elaborate.

I sighed, rolled my eyes and shrugged. I could get up early, but I was just less sociable. When I couldn't sleep I'd usually go on a hunt, but for some reason this morning I couldn't bare to part from Beth. Knowing her she'd somehow roll off the roof without me there looking out for her clumsy ass, the thought made me laugh.

"What?" Her eyes scanned mine as she tried to figure out the joke.

"Nothin'." I shook my head slightly as I rubbed my jaw, I needed to shave at some point. I'm sure no one would have thought to loot razors and shaving cream.

"Hm…" She leaned forward and kissed my cheek and the memories of last night flooded back, but for the first time in god knows how long I didn't regret something to do with her.

"Your daddy's probably wonderin' where you're at." I acknowledged her father and started to gather up the sleeping bags.

"Have you seen how early it is? There's no way he's up at this time." She rolled her eyes but followed me back down to the prison anyway.

Beth put the sleeping bags away so well you'd never be able to tell they'd been used. It was better to leave her to that sort of thing considering how gentle and careful she was with stuff like that.

We ate breakfast together that morning and I tried my hardest to ignore the glares Beth's family shot in my direction. I cleared my throat as I ate, informing Beth of the incoming glares. If she seemed bothered she didn't show it in the slightest. She just continued to eat, eyes focussed on Lil Ass Kicker as she made faces at her, laughing as the baby's eyes widened in delight.

Rick sat beside me afterwards and he watched Beth taking care of his daughter.

"Can we talk?" He raised an eyebrow at me to which I nodded.

He pulled me aside and my heart beat faster, he knew about our getaway to the roof last night. There couldn't be anything else for us to talk about, surely.

"The Governor," Rick's voice lowered considerably and I felt myself tense. The motherfucker killed my brother and I was out for his blood as much as the next guy. "He's been sighted."

"Where?" I looked across for my crossbow, but Rick caught my attention again.

"Hey, focus. It wasn't too far from here, seems like he's got a new base…"

"So?" He had a new base which yes, could be potentially dangerous, but we shouldn't worry until we heard more.

"So I need you to add more people to the training sessions you're having with Beth." A glint in Rick's eyes told me that he wasn't telling me everything he knew.

"Alrigh'." I shrugged, Beth wouldn't like it, but it was necessary I guess.

"Don't … Don't do anything stupid, Daryl." His eyes searched mine, lingering slightly and my insides squirmed. It felt like he already knew about us. Maybe he did.


	7. Nerves On Fire

I glanced at Daryl and Rick as they spoke, though my mind reeled of the events of last night. It felt like it had been building up for a while and perhaps we had just been trying to release some frustration, either way I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hoped he had too. I knew he was obviously conflicted with what had happened, but I was old enough to make my own decisions, I was an adult now. I felt stupid for thinking about it so much, but then I knew Daryl must have been thinking about it a lot too because he couldn't even look at me now.

Something about their closed postures told me that they were talking about something far too sensitive for the likes of me to listen to, so I excused myself and sat outside to play with Judith.

"Hey Bethy ..." I looked up as daddy awkwardly tried to sit next to me and I quickly stood to guide him.

"What's up, daddy?" I smiled as I tucked my hair behind my ear. Dad was the only one I felt like I could be _me_ around, mainly because he'd be able to see through me if I tried anything strange, but it felt nice.

"Maggie's worried about you, sweetheart." I sighed slightly as he spoke, he knew exactly how to guilt trip me.

"I know ... I'm sorry, daddy." He looked at me and he smiled, it was the kind of smile that reached his eyes and it was the one made me remember all the good times, before the turn.

Reaching forward, he planted a soft kiss on the top of my head before asking for my assistance to help him stand. With Judith on my hip I carefully pulled my father up and escorted him inside. Judith was getting restless from the heat, anyway. As I walked past the cell block I saw Daryl and Rick still in deep conversation, so I left them to it and went to find somewhere else to go.

I decided to take Judith to the library, Daryl had been bringing back toys he found when out on runs and Judith adored them. With Judith sitting comfortably on the worn out rug, I searched through the shelves until I found the book I had been reading but had hidden so no one else could find. I read my book silently whilst keeping an eye on the baby who sat opposite me playing with various toys, I couldn't help smiling at her. Judith was without a doubt the cutest baby I had ever laid eyes upon, her hair was a soft brown and her eyes lit up with excitement at the smallest event, it was nice to see that such wonder and happiness could exist in a place like this.

"'Sup," Daryl came in and sat down, picking Judith up and placing her gently on his lap. "We need t'talk." He looked uncomfortably at me as my eyes stared intently at him and I could tell he felt uneasy about the conversation.

"Shoot." I sighed, placing my book face down to keep the page.

"Rick wants me t'train more people other than you," Daryl nodded at me and I frowned, that wasn't such a big deal. "The Governor's been sighted." Daryl's voice dropped to a whisper as he spoke to me, obviously I wasn't meant to know.

"Why are you tellin' me?" I leaned closer so that he could speak quieter. "I haven't got anythin' to do with him." Though my stomach bubbled with anger at the thought of him. He hadn't personally done anything to me, but he'd hurt my sister. I didn't know the details of it, she refused to speak about it but I could gather a good guess at what had happened.

"Because Rick's sendin' me out t'find him." My head snapped up at that and he set Judith down beside him so he could close the space between us.

"Why? That's not fair! Why does he get to choose? I thought he didn't wanna be-"

I was cut off by Daryl's rough hands holding the side of my neck as he kissed me, his fingers stroked the sides of my neck as we kissed and I raised my hand gently to stroke his cheek as I returned his kiss. This kiss was similar to our first, rough and desperate, but this time I felt a passion so deep it felt like every nerve was on fire. I moved forward and straddled his lap, my own confidence surprised me, but that didn't mean I was going to stop. His hands settled on my waist as he ran his tongue under the top row of my teeth to get me to open my mouth slightly more. As I did so he teased my tongue with his and suddenly I was laying beneath him, hands running up his back and head tilted to the side to allow him to kiss my neck.

In the end I pulled away from him, panting. He tilted his head to look at me, confusion etched upon his face as he asked me what was wrong.

"Nothin', I just don't wanna…" My face flushed a bright red as I put my hair back up into a ponytail. "Here, with Judith … No protection."

"Yeah, yeah. Right." Daryl nodded and I realised he hadn't even though about having sex with me just now, I felt my face flush in embarrassment, but he didn't call me out on it.

"Daryl?" I called out slightly, scared he was going to leave.

"Mmm?" He turned to me and as he wiped his mouth and I swallowed hard as I tried not to let the hurt I felt show.

"Are you only doin' this because I'm young?" I swallowed hard and watched him shift in obvious discomfort as he processed an answer.

"Yes." And with that, he left.

I sat, numb with disbelief. How could he do that? The great and mighty hero of the prison Daryl Dixon was interested in a girl because of her age. I sat in devastation for a few minutes before I remembered the reasons I had hated him in the first place.

I hated his voice, his clothes, his accent. I hated how he treated everyone, even though we were 'family'. I hated how everyone hailed him a hero when Michonne did the same things he did on a daily basis. I hated his brother and the way he would cast suggestive glances at me when no one was around and I _definitely_ hated the way he kissed me. I hated how rough his hands felt when they moved across my skin, I hated the taste his lips had and I hated the way his tongue felt as it found mine. I hated the butterflies he gave me and the way my heart soared when he showed me any kind of affection and most of all I hated the way that I couldn't find any strength within me to want him to stay away from me.

I picked up Judith, placed her in Carol's care and picked up my bow before finding the small gap in the fence Daryl and I used. I was careful to make sure no one was watching as I quickly slipped through the gap and set off. I had to let off some steam.

I walked through the forest that was on the outskirts of the prison and though I knew that walkers were all but swarming the place, I felt no fear. I glanced down at my bow and at the top of the frame was a knife that had been haphazardly taped by Daryl incase I needed to swing the bow and hit someone in the face or something. The thought of Daryl just made me fill with anger so I forced his stupid face out of my mind and continued walking. I wasn't entirely sure of where I was going, but I found myself at the clearing of a forest and looking at the place Daryl had taken me only a few days before. I had been certain it was a few hours away, but I'd been so hazy with exhaustion I must have been wrong.

I trudged my way to the rock we had sat on and felt my blood boil as I saw him sat there. I hadn't been all that quiet as I walked, so he was either in deep thought or was just ignoring me. I picked out an arrow that had been poked through my waistband and strung it up in the bow before aiming it at the rock he was sitting on before letting it loose. It fell short of him and hit my target by clattering off the rock, it was one way to get his attention.

By the time he had turned around I was next to the rock shouting obscenities and hitting him as tears flowed down my cheeks and I vaguely heard him telling me to stop and calm down, but I refused to listen and continued pummeling into him and shouting about how much I hated him. The next thing I saw was the sky as Daryl kicked my legs out from under me and pinned my arms beside my head.

"Will'ya stop an' let me talk?!" He applied pressure as I struggled, keeping me against the ground. "Rick knows, Beth. Rick knows!" I continued to squirm beneath him.

"So, we kissed! It's not like we're in love! What are you so afraid of?" I panted, clearly trying to kill Daryl Dixon was more effort than it was worth.

"I 'aint afraid of nothin'! I 'aint afraid of you or walkers or anythin'! an' you know why? Because I 'aint got anythin' I care about!" He shouted back at me, but I didn't shy away.

"Will you stop?! I matter to you Daryl Dixon! And so does Carol and Rick and Carl! Our _family_ matters to you!" My voice was verging on a scream and I was sure that every walker in the state must have heard us.

"Stop actin' like you know me!" His grip tightened around my wrists in his frustration and there was no way I was going to let him win this.

"Then stop pretendin' like you don't care about me!" I screeched and pushed against him, but he held me down still and I knew it was only to stop me hitting him, but it still riled me up. "Because I care about you more than anythin' in this world!"

Daryl faltered for only a second and I felt his hands loosen from my wrists slightly.

"Carin' gets you killed." He mumbled after a moment or so.

"Everythin' gets you killed nowadays." I retorted, expecting his answer.

I watched as Daryl clenched his teeth and got off of me before picking up his crossbow and moving to leave. His whole body was tensed up and I knew I'd struck a nerve.

"You're scared to get close because of Merle, aren't you?" My voice was light with caution, I could never know how he was going to take this topic of conversation.

"Don't talk abou' him." Daryl simply said.

"I'm tryin' to be here for you." I sighed, growing exasperated at him constantly avoiding my attempts to grow closer with him.

"I don't need it." He shrugged. "We gotta get back for trainin' an' I 'aint teachin' you no more. Glenn's got tha' job."

He had waited for me to catch up with him, but I still trudged behind him. I wasn't happy with the way he'd just left things. We were in the midst of an argument and he just walks away? I decided to talk to him when we got back and when he wasn't being so much of a nutcase. We got back into the fence and we couldn't have been gone long because practically _no one_ had noticed we'd been missing. Daryl made himself scarce the moment we got through the fence and left me wondering what the hell had happened to him.

**AN - Sorry for the short chapters on this story recently, I'm just finding it insanely difficult to write! I'm trying to make a point of Beth being a lot darker in this story than what she is in the show as I've always felt that since she distances herself from feelings she could easily slip into not having them at all and obviously being attracted to someone like Daryl who refuses to acknowledge emotions actually exist isn't very helpful. Anyway, thank you for the lovely reviews, follows and favourites!**


	8. In A World Like This

**AN - Man I have missed writing this story, I've suddenly had a creative burst with this and edited the complete storyline and rewrote it, I love these guys. I'm sorry it's such a short chapter!**

Alright, I'd left Glenn to deal with Beth and yes, it wasn't all that great of me but if Rick knew that meant that Herschel would know and that meant I would be seen as a man I knew I wasn't.

The safest option for me was to stay away from Beth, it was safe for us both. I retreated to my perch and lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. When had this got so complicated? It hadn't started out as much, but when both Beth and myself would be plain lying if we said it hadn't developed into something more.

"You got time to talk?" Rick's voice sounded weak, as though it was on the verge of breaking. He sounded a lot like that nowadays.

I tried to think of a witty answer, but just answered with a curt nod and sat up on my elbows to support my weight. Rick looked weaker as the days went on, but he looked peaceful. I hadn't seem him this happy (if it was the right word) since … Since a long time. He looked thinner, haggard and though it had been a long time since he had worn it, seeing him without the hat still made him look like a stranger.

"About Beth-"

"I 'aint talkin' 'bout her." I said matter of factly, I thought our conversations branched out more than who I may or may not take an interest in but clearly not.

"I'm not gonna tell her daddy." He shrugged, his palms resting on his knees as he spoke, I could tell he was choosing his words carefully, tiptoeing on broken glass.

"'Aint that a relief?" I scoffed and sat upright and quickly ran a hand through my dishevelled hair as if it was going to make it look anymore acceptable.

"Daryl," Rick's tone sounded heavy and I felt a pang of guilt for adding to the guy's problems. "Just look after her, would you?"

"What happened to don't do anythin' stupid?" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and flash one of my cockiest smirks, something that didn't go unnoticed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Rick returned the smirk and as he stood he kicked my boot and nodded once as he left, probably to go and find Carl.

The more I thought about her the more I realised it was hard to stay away. I had to make a decision, throw myself into this or cut off ties completely and I already knew which one I had chosen.

I jogged out to the courtyard where Beth walked, bow slung across her back and arrows through her belt. I just watched her for a few seconds, she loaded her bow the way I did, checked around the way I did. She was training herself.

"Comin' on a hunt?" I walked behind her and murmured over her shoulder, though I was conscious to ensure there was actually nobody around us.

"Why, so I can be lectured?" Beth rolled her eyes slightly and it would usually annoy me, but not now. Not when I wanted to make amends like this. Her eyes found mine and she must have seen the glint of mischief in them because as I studied her face I saw an eyebrow raise in intrigue.

And so, less than ten minutes later we were at 'our' place as she liked to call it. I had intended it to be a hunt, but hey, things don't always want to work out the way you intend them.

"I know you wanna talk to me about somethin' you find important." Beth noted as we looked out at the lake, creek, whatever it was.

"Whatever we are, I just .." I licked my lips, wondered how to go about it. "I want it."

Beth's head snapped to the side, as if to make sure it was actually me to talk and slowly, a grin spread across her face and she through her arms around her neck and she maneuvered herself so she was sat on my lap. At first, the contact surprised me, it had been so long since anything had been intimate, but the scent of her hair and the feel of her skin enticed me and I felt my arms circle around her waist and her eyes settled upon mine.

"Could it be you're in'a good mood?" I smirked slightly and she pouted in response, but it made me smirk all the same.

"Could it be this is the best mood swing you've ever had?" She responded, tucking herself closer to me.

"Perhaps." Was all I said and we remained in silence a few minutes more.

"I saw Rick went to speak to you?" Beth offered after a while as she tilted her head to the side inquisitively.

I explained to her what he told me, almost word for word, but she didn't seem to even slightly care that he knew, but then again she wouldn't be the dirty old pervert if everyone found out.

"My age bothers you." With a small smile she spoke, her words were so gentle and soft they actually took me by surprise.

"Not so much tha'." I shrugged, but she saw straight through the facade and raised an eyebrow. "It's just if everyone found out … What would I be then?"

"Still as valuable to us all as you are now. Without you we'd all be fucked." Her cheeks filled with colour.

"Language." Of course I was the last person to remind her not to speak like that, but it felt strange knowing it was my influence, but at the same time it was funny.

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow now and I couldn't help but laugh at the way she tried to look so menacing but just came out looking confused, she knew it too judging by the way her cheeks flushed scarlet and she stared past my shoulder.

I kissed the side of her neck and I could almost hear her smile and it made me wonder if it was actually possible for us to live happily in a world like this.


	9. Until The Screaming Began

**AN - Guys, I've felt so down about this ship at the minute. Since the commentary was released yesterday and Norman said that Bethyl was just a brother/sister relationship makes me so sad.**

**So to make me feel better, I decided to write some more. Enjoy!**

It would be nice to say that Daryl and I stayed happily together after that, but the unfortunate truth is that we didn't. We spent hours in our little haven watching the water cascade onto the rocks, smattering the drops into harmless shards of sunlight. We just lay on one big rock alternating between kissing and talking and then kissing again and we just enjoyed each others company in silence, until the screaming began.

"Stay here." Daryl was sat up in a shot, reaching out for his crossbow. His features twisted into an expression of confusion as he shrugged his jacket back on and got off of the rock.

"You know I'm not gonna do that." I sighed and rolled my eyes before sliding off the rock next to him and picking up my bow tight, I quickly slotted the arrows into my belt and looked up at Daryl.

"Beth-" He looked as though he was about to argue, but just shook his head and rolled his eyes slightly, waving me forward with him. "You stay close, I tell'ya to go, you do it. Got it?" I noticed how his accent slipped and his words were drenched his thick accent, he must genuinely have been worried.

"Of course." I nodded in earnest before he took off at a sprint towards the woods with me following hot on his heels.

Our feet stepped lightly over the dry leaves perhaps I crunched a few too many but Daryl didn't turn back to hush me, I probably wouldn't be heard over the sound of screaming anyway. We slinked through the trees for a few more minutes before we found the source of the screams; a cabin.

"What do we do…?" I dared not talk above a whisper as I glanced from the house to Daryl.

"We wait," he murmured as he listened out for the sounds of walkers. "Go." We both jogged to the house and slipped through the front door.

"Hello?" I called out, I could feel Daryl's eyes glare into the back of my head but I ignored him.

I pressed on through the house with my heart in my throat and my ears pounding, there could be a walker at any second. The thought of being bitten raised the hairs on the back of my neck and took a second to breathe deeply and steady myself, someone here needed help and I was going to see what was wrong. The further through the house I moved the louder the screams got until I reached the bottom of some stairs. After taking a quick glance to see where Daryl was I slowly tiptoed up making sure not to alert anyone, just the way Daryl taught me.

Finally I stepped into the room at the source of the noise. She was laying on the floor and her hair was hanging over her face, so I couldn't see what was wrong, but as I crouched down beside her I saw a baby and it was clear to see it was lifeless. Taking a deep breath I leaned forward to stroke the hair from her face, she flinched at first but stopped screaming and instead, flung her arms around my neck. It took me a full ten seconds to realise the woman was hugging me and before I could respond I was hugging her back.

My daddy always said that empathy was important and seeing this woman who had just lost her baby and was completely alone made my heart ache for her. She sobbed into the side of my neck and gripped me tight, I looked to my right at the doorway and was surprised to see that Daryl wasn't there. The woman let go of me after a few minutes and held her baby tightly to her again.

"What's your name?" I smiled softly.

"Lucia …" Her voice was hoarse from screaming and her hair was lanky with grease, but as I looked at her more it was easy to see she was a beautiful lady, even prettier than Maggie. "Kill me."

Her request knocked the breath from my lungs and I frowned slightly, shaking my head. Suddenly, thoughts of the farm came flooding back. Thoughts of me telling Maggie to end her life with me, so we could be together, thoughts of the glass as I sank into the flesh on my wrist and the thoughts of the pain I had felt. But I also remembered how as I did it, I knew my problems could be solved, but with this woman … I knew it was different.

Her pain was deep in her bones and her hope was diminished. She looked at the bow gripped in my palm and nodded slowly.

"It's what I want." Her voice was wracked with agony, but her eyes looked so hopeful, like she had been waiting so long for this moment.

It took me a few moments, but slowly I nodded. As I pulled an arrow from my belt and notched it into my bow I wondered what my father would think. Would he see this as a mercy kill, or plain murder? It made me wonder what Rick would think, too. He had had his fair share of difficult decisions, but somehow he had pulled through, even if he had slipped after losing Lori … With the thoughts a flurry in my head I pulled my arm taut and aimed it at the lady's skull and with a deep, desperate breath I let loose.

The arrow sunk straight into her skull and the pain would only have been a second at the most. I looked down at her body and then down at the baby she had been so ready to die for. Like Lori … I sighed to myself and moved the bodies so it simply looked like the baby was having a nap with its mother.

I took one more deep, harrowing breath and turned to the door where Daryl now stood.

"Did you just…?" Daryl swallowed hard and nodded to the woman on the floor.

So, hesitantly I explained what had happened, how I knew what she wanted me to do and then I realised my hands were shaking and my eyes were streaming with tears and before I knew it I was enveloped in his arms and everything felt safe again.

"She wanted it … I swear." Mere months ago I hadn't cared when my own boyfriend was killed by a walker, but here I was crying over a stranger who had asked me to kill her. Had I changed so quickly?

I felt Daryl's hand tug mine gently and he pulled me from the room before shutting the door and then his hands were on my waist and he was kissing me and I was kissing him, but it felt wrong.

"Daryl …" I tipped my head down in shame, unsure of what I should be feeling. Of course I knew that he was only trying to make me feel better, but it felt so … _wrong _being so close to a woman that had just died.

Instead he fell silent, his hands dropped from my waist and he nodded slowly, embarrassed. If I could have found the words to comfort him I would have, but I was finding it hard to even keep myself together.

The next thing I remembered seeing was the forest floor beneath me as I ran. I don't remember if I even said anything to Daryl, let alone actually running off, but it couldn't have been for long because I was pushed against a tree.

"Beth, Beth!" Daryl cupped my face so I would calm down, which I did after realising I hadn't been grabbed by a walker. "Listen, I know wha' you just went through was horrible, but … But y'can't shut down like this." Daryl shook me gently to get me to look at him and his eyes studied mine.

"I'm only eighteen … What do you expect?" The words hadn't meant to come out as an accusation, but the damage was clearly already done, because he moved away and nodded.

"Yeah, thats's right …" He smiled sadly, I'd barely ever seen him genuinely smile before so this was something different entirely.

"Daryl, I didn't mean-" I stepped forward to explain, but he held out a strong arm to make sure I didn't close the distance.

"I think … Y'need to think about if this is what you want."

"You know this is-"

"If you want this, to be with me or whatever the fuck we are, you're gonna have to learn to survive, Beth. What happens if we go out huntin' an' we get separated? Huh?" His hands found my face again, pulling me in close.

"And _you _have to stop sendin' me mixed signals!" I pushed his hands away and looked at him, exasperated. "One minute you want 'whatever the fuck we are' and sometimes you don't even want me near you…!"

"You're right." Daryl nodded slowly, he swallowed hard as he chose his next words. "I just never done anythin' like this before, not properly." His head raised slightly and looked at me out of the eye that wasn't covered by his fringe.

"Done what?"

"Fuck, Beth you _know _what I mean!" He stepped back and put his arms behind his head in frustration.

"Okay … Okay, we'll figure this out." I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I know we will."

"I don't know abou' tha', but I'm gonna make it work." He sighed slightly and kissed the top of my head. "I jus' need t'sort some stuff out, okay?"

"Why do you have to be so … So secretive all the time?" I looked up at him, not wanting another argument, but also not wanting to be kept in the dark all the time.

"It's for your own good."

"Well maybe I don't want to be treated like a kid."

"Well, you _are _a kid!"

I was reminded of the library again and felt anger rise. He had criticised me for being upset for killing a woman, then he hadn't allowed me to grieve and now he was calling me a kid.

"So what does that make you? Just because you're afraid of what everyone'll think-" I began, but he clearly wasn't having any of it.

"It 'aint about tha'." He murmured.

"Then what _is _it about?!" I was verging on shouting again, but I was determined to keep my voice level.

"I can't lose anyone again!" Daryl shouted, his voice filled with emotion and it cracked slightly at the end of his words. "Not after Merle, an' I sure as hell 'aint losin' you."


	10. Gimme A Fuckin' Minute

**AN- Okay guys, so literally ten minutes after posting the last chapter of this I found out, with the help of some of you, that Norman never said that, so yeah thanks!**

**I **_**think**_** I remember Daryl saying in the porch scene that he 'was a drifter and a junkie doing whatever Merle said.' so I'm gonna playing on that in this chapter. So there will be mentions of drugs if they're triggering to you!**

**Also, my 'shift' key is kinda messed up, so if names and stuff aren't capitalized that would be why!**

**Enjoy!**

As I cradled Beth in my arms I thought about whether this actually had been a good idea for not the first time in so many days. I clearly couldn't handle her, I wasn't very good with emotion anyway, but with her … It was like I tried so hard to protect her and it just never seemed to fucking work. Sometimes I did wonder if it was all worth it, but then I would look into her eyes and see pools of affection staring back at me and, somehow, I would just know I'd made the right choice.

I meant what I said, too. About making sure she would be okay. I'd never felt such a responsibility towards someone and actually _enjoyed _it. It's kinda funny because the best part of me was always her.

"We should … Get going." Beth nodded slowly into my chest and I felt her eyelashes as they blinked against my shirt.

"Yeah, I guess." Obviously comforting people had never been my forte, but the more she was with me, the more she understood that I really did care.

I felt like she sometimes got frustrated at the way I handled things, but she's such an empathetic person she just … Rolls with it. I looped an arm around her shoulders and walked away with her, back to the prison.

Let's just say that people noticed we were gone this time. As soon as we were inside that gate Maggie came stomping over, followed by Glenn who was trying to hold her back and, surprisingly, Carol with Lil Ass Kicker. They arrived in that order and Beth was grabbed from me, I'd completely forgotten my arm had been around her.

"What do y'think you're doin'?!" Maggie almost growled, more at me than Beth, but it was she who answered.

"He hurt his leg, so I helped him back, s'no big deal." Beth was remarkably good at lying and I was yet again reminded that she wasn't the sweet little girl from the farm who I thought I knew, shit had happened to her and she was so much stronger than I had previously given her credit for. It was insane.

"Maggie c'mon, calm down." Glenn smiled at me, he was embarrassed. The three of them walked away and I was left with Carol.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Pookie." Carol smiled, but it was sad. It worried me that it didn't upset me as much as it used to.

"I been trainin' with Beth, y'know tha'." I mumbled, but I knew I'd have to make more of an effort with her, after all she was one of the few people I cared about in this prison.

"Yeah," her head turned sharply away and her mouth stretched into a thin line. "I know."

I licked my lips as I thought about how to approach her. Perhaps there might have been something between Carol and I long ago, but maybe she was just feeling put out because after all, I had sworn to take down Beth if she started to unwind.

"Somethin' wrong w'that?" I frowned, arms folded and always on the defensive.

"No, nothing, Daryl." She sighed and handed Lil Ass Kicker to me before retreating back to the prison.

I decided to take a rare moment of rest, I walked slowly so as not to disturb the baby in my arms over to a shaded area so I could just sit and think about things. I was confident I had made the right decision about Beth, there were so many things I loved- liked about her that I just couldn't explain. Maybe it was because she was the complete opposite to me, y'know like that Chinese thing, Ying and Yang or whatever. I shook away the thought and looked down at the Judith. I wondered how nice it must be not to worry about everything that we did, I mean, all she worried about was whether it was Beth or Carol looking after her or what she was going to play with. She had her daddy and her brother and Beth and Carol to worry about her so she didn't need to do stuff like that, made me think about my home life.

"_Darlena, fuckin' gimme some." Merle is in his mid thirties, now balding. He shoves his younger brother hard in the shoulder in an effort to catch his attention._

"_Gimme a fuckin' second." Daryl retorts and spits at the floor in front of Merle before pouring out an acceptable amount of white powder from the clear plastic bag he's holding onto the table before him. When Merle first showed him the stuff, he had just wanted to run his fingers through it, it looked too much like sherbet._

"_Y'had your fuckin' second." Merle snatches the bag from Daryl and pours out a bigger mound of powder from the bag. "Y'got anything?" He quickly searches the room for some paper he can roll into a cylinder before settling on a note that he doesn't even bother reading._

"_Looks like you do." Daryl shrugs, unsure whether Merle will let him use the note or not he waits patiently until Merle has finished._

_Daryl isn't addicted. Sure, he likes to take it sometimes, but he could give it up if he wants to, he's sure of that. He gets urges sometimes, when he's worried about Merle or knows his daddy will be seeing him soon he has some, just to smoothen the edge of his nerves._

Judith brought me back to the present with her small wails, I jumped slightly but realised she just wanted some attention, so I play with her for a little bit before looking around to see if anyone was around to take her inside, kid probably needed some sleep being outside in the sun and all. But as I looked up, I saw Beth. She smiled softly at me and sat beside me and I felt every nerve go on edge.

"Thanks for leavin' me with Maggie." She rolled her eyes but smiled slightly as she made a stupid face to Lil Ass Kicker.

"Hey, I was left w'Carol." I smirked slightly and raised an eyebrow. "She can be scary when she wants t'be."

"That's true." Beth nodded and I flexed my arms as Beth took the baby from my arms. "She's gettin' so big…" She smiled down at Judith again and spoke slightly softer. "I always wanted kids."

"Don't look t'me for that." I felt a cold sweat wash over me at her words, but obviously I tried to play it off all cool, but obviously that was kinda difficult.

"Who said I wanted 'em from you?" Beth raised an eyebrow back at me and smirked back, it was mischievous and hot as fuck.

"Wha' am I not life time partner material?" I shrugged and kicked a stone across the ground.

"I just wouldn't want 'em now." She looked back at me, her eyes looking wise beyond their years and I was reminded again of how finding her mother in that barn changed her.

"'Cause of all this?" I asked, she had caught my attention.

"Obviously." She replied, short and blunt. Her eyes scanned mine and I know she was looking for something, but I wasn't sure what.

"That's good." Was all I could think to reply.

"I guess so." She smiled back at me.

We played with Judith for the rest of the evening.


	11. Wasn't Sure Existed

If I could count the amount of times Daryl and I had argued over stupid, menial things I'm sure the number would be in the thousands, but somehow we managed to sort things out, we always had time to. This time, I wasn't so sure.

It began, like usual with him saying something that I didn't agree with and me trying to put him in his place, simple, right? Wrong. What could start out as a good old debate always, without fail, flared into a full on argument that actually drew the attention of some of the people who sat nearby. Once or twice someone would have to intervene, only ask if we were okay or if there was a problem and it wasn't long before Maggie found out.

"What's this I'm hearin' of arguments between you and Daryl?" Maggie raised an eyebrow and I could feel heat rise to the back of my neck, it just felt like she knew everything that had happened between us, which was something that I could _not _allow to happen. She tilted her head slightly as she waited for an answer and her hair brushed against her shoulder, I'd forgotten how long it had grown. When she had first had it done, only a few weeks before mama got ill actually, she had hated it with a passion. She swore that she loved it now, but I could still see the way she looked at mine or even Michonne's locks enviously, it just made me realise how trivial things were back then, a haircut could reduce my sister to tears, but she could kill a living man without batting an eyelid. Strange world we live in, really.

"It's arguments over my trainin', Maggie." I sighed softly and bent down to pick up Judith. It seemed that washing duty had been given to one of the newbies, thank god. I always hated that job.

"Don't lie to me, Elizabeth." Her voice was sharp, but there was a hint of mischief there too and I knew that she knew _everything._

"How did you find out?" I sighed softly and bobbed Judith on my waist who was trying to grab at the braid in my hair.

"Lots of careful observation." Maggie replied, but it was obvious she could barely contain her grin.

"You're okay with it? You seemed like you hated him …" I swallowed slightly, this was all new territory for us, Maggie had never approved of my boyfriend's so why would she approve of someone maybe over twenty years my senior? (He still hadn't told me how old he was.)

"Bethy, this is the happiest I've seen you since all this began." Her hand brushed my cheek softly as she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind my ear, her smile was sad and she looked much older than she really was and it made my heart ache as I thought of what this world had done to her.

"He does make me happy." I agreed and looked at Judith, who promptly gurgled as if she agreed. Judy was such a happy baby, it was a nice to have in the prison sometimes. "Daddy can't know, you know he doesn't … Approve of Daryl just yet for stealin' Nelly that one time." I couldn't help but giggle, my daddy was so protective over his horses, even in the apocalypse.

"Of course, of course." Maggie rolled her eyes and sat on my bed with me for a while.

She was a natural, playing with Judith. I'd always been the more maternal one out of the two of us, but the way she looked at the baby actually filled me with a sense of pride, perhaps she would have a baby? Suddenly the memory of losing Lori hit me hard and I had to clench my teeth to stop myself from saying anything to Maggie, I just wanted her to be safe.

"Don't ever have a baby, Maggie. Not yet, anyway."

"What?" Her eyes widened in surprise and a little bit of disgust, actually. "Me have a baby? Here? Are you kiddn'?" She couldn't help but laugh and my sister has the most infectious laughter out of anyone I've ever known. Daddy used to say she could light up the room with her laughter, even if it was filled with people who hated her guts. Before long we were nearly crying from laughter, it felt like the old times again just with the addition of a very confused baby.

"Wha's so funny?" A gruff voice asked from the doorway and with a stereotypical 'eek!' I stopped laughing.

He made me so nervous. I liked him _a lot _more than Jimmy and Zach, anyway if that was to count for something. I could argue with him about the time of day, but still sneak into his room at night to cuddle with him until I fell asleep before he nudged me awake so that we didn't get caught by someone doing patrols. I thought back on how I used to hate his guts, how I wished he had died when Andrea shot him in the head, how I was … _happy _when Merle died. But all of that was before I learned that his favourite colour was a sky blue and that he's still mad at the fact he didn't grab his favourite hunting boots when everything started. It was before I knew he was unlike any individual I had ever had the pleasure to meet.

"Nothin'!" Maggie winked at me as she left, obviously she gave Daryl a quick nudge in the arm as she left.

"That was … Odd." He frowned and shut the curtain that acted as the door to myself before cupping my face and giving me a quick kiss. Kissing him was better than anything I had ever been able to imagine. It wasn't like the awkward fumblings Jimmy and I had experienced, with painful gropes and sloppy kisses that trailed my neck. It was full of caring and compassion as he stroke down my sides and gently stroked a thumb across the scars on my wrist, it was the gentle and tender kisses that he sneaked upon my forehead when no one was looking, but perhaps most importantly it was the way he said my name. He made it sound like a pool of sunshine that no cloud could shadow.

"Hm?" Was all I could answer as he took Judith from my lap and quickly spun her around. "What was that?"

"Maggie?" He shot a quick glance to me as he swung the baby slowly through the air, eliciting a scream of joy from her lips. "She winked at'ya an' nudged me?" He set Judith on the floor and tipped over her toybox in order to help her find her red cups that she adored.

"Oh, yeah, she knows." I swallowed hard, it wasn't like she was _actually _going to tell anyone, besides maybe Glenn and he was scared of her wrath so if he ever told Daddy he knew that Maggie would kill him.

"Wha'?" His eyes widened with such a new sense of fear it was actually comical. "How?"

"She called it 'careful observation'." I rolled my eyes slightly, but couldn't help smiling at him it seemed to relax him anyway.

"But your daddy-"

"My daddy won't find out'" I raised an eyebrow slightly as I dropped my voice to a hushed whisper and walked closer to him.

"Hm…" He quickly wrapped an arm around my waist, but I could tell his eyes were on the curtain.

"Daryl…" I sighed softly and rested a hand on his cheek so that he would turn to look at me again. As much as I loved how protective he was of both me and himself it was exhausting trying to get him to relax sometimes.

"I 'aint a bad guy." He planted a soft kiss on the tip of my nose and then in between my eyebrows and then my forehead before enveloping me in a tight embrace.

"How long have I be tryin' to tell you that?" I smiled against his chest and chuckled gently at him.

"Sh." He shrugged and squeezed me slightly tighter.

"I wouldn't, Carol will be round soon to look after Judy so that we can train."

"Ah. Okay." He swallowed hard and I could practically feel him gulping.

"What?" I frowned slightly and sat back on the bed.

"Nothin' she's jus' bein'-" Rather than finish his sentence he decided to shrug to tell me how they were right now.

"Oh…" I nodded slowly and pulled open the curtain, where Carol stood waiting.

After an awkward greeting, Daryl and I slipped past her in the doorway and went out to the yard to train. It wasn't really training anymore really, I mean, it was, but it was mainly just him giving me tips and making me do laps so that I could outrun a walker. He knew how much I hated running, so of course he made me run more laps than usual today and when he finally allowed me to finish we sat on the courtyard grass for a few minutes.

None of us saw the group of people who stood on the opposite side of the gates, cutting at the fences with large wire cutters. I don't remember who was supposed to be on duty, I don't think anyone did. If we did have someone on patrol we probably could have prevented it.

"Get down!" Daryl shoved me backwards before sheltering me with his own body and I instinctively put my hands over my head as I tried to shelter myself from the flying bits of debris that came flying in our direction, but that still didn't stop the rock that hit my head and knocked me out cold.

When I came to there was fire. And screaming. So much screaming. Daryl, who had been on top of me, was nowhere to be seen. I sat up and could tell by the incessant groaning that walkers had started roaming our home. I felt for my bow and arrows and quickly fixed an arrow into the notch of my bow. It was a miracle that there wasn't a walker feasting on me whilst I was out. It seemed, instead, that they had found their way over to the children and other helpless people who had been trapped by rock and had begun to scream.

"Daryl?!" I allowed myself to give a quick shout, it shouldn't distract the walkers too much. How could I be thinking like that? Walkers had just broken into our home and instead of helping my new family I was busy focussing on keeping myself alive. But isn't that what Daryl had told me? If you can't help make sure that you survive? With shaky steps and a shakier hand I let loose an arrow on a walker that was beginning to get too close. Find someone, get out.

It was actually daddy who found me, his leg hindered his get away slightly, but he agreed to come with me to search the prison for anyone else who was still there. I walked slowly, as not to tire him out and went down to the closest cell block I could find. Judy should be there with Carl …

I left my father outside the cell block, somewhere safe with a flimsy, but stable gate protecting him before breaking into a sprint. Judy was the main concern, that's if Rick and Carl hadn't found her first, of course. As I turned into the block a bullet pinged so close to my head I could feel the heat from it, instinctively I turned back for cover and again notched an arrow into the bow and waited. I waited until I heard footsteps come towards me before I swung out from my hiding space and _almost _let loose on the arrow. Thankfully, I didn't.

"Beth!" It was Daryl. Relief swarmed me and I nearly dropped to the floor infront of him, it was probably his arms that were gripping my shoulders to steady me that stopped me. "Y'need t'go!" There was a sense of urgency that unnerved me, his eyes were wild and his grip tightened. "Wait for me at our place, okay?" He kissed my forehead hard and went to leave.

"No! Daryl, no! You're not leavin' me again! I'm comin' with you!" It probably wasn't the right moment to take a stand against him, but there was _no _way I was going to let him fight this on his own.

"This 'aint time for heroics!" His voice grew and grew with each word and his desperation radiated from him.

"Then why are you insistin' on goin' alone?!" I screamed to match his voice, it was then that I realised that I didn't want to do this because I wanted to help him, I was doing it because I couldn't do it _without _him.

"'Cause I fuckin' love you!" His voice was so loud it was a roar above the gunfire and we both fell immediately silent straight after. "Now get your daddy an' the kids you can find an' take them to our place." His eyes were brimming with tears, not even from sadness I realised, but fear. "I need y'to go, okay?"

In response I wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him hard. It didn't take long for my tongue to find his and we were stood, perpetually frozen in the moment. His hands stroked down my side one more time and my fingers laced through his hair before we broke apart.

"I love you too." I whispered, before running away to find survivors I wasn't sure even existed.


End file.
